Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

We would do that by using a mix of technologies, including using fibre to the node, as has been used in a number of other countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and others. The debate really focused in large part on these competing technologies. In my view—I was very public about this—the ABC failed in its coverage of the issue because it failed to use its rather extensive international resources to at least go and interview people at British Telecom or Deutsche Telekom or Swisscom and test whether the arguments I was putting as the shadow minister for communications were correct. They declined to do that and as a consequence I feel in that regard the national broadcaster, which I hold in high regard, as I am sure honourable members do, should have done a better job in putting more information about the competing alternatives before the public. As honourable members will recall, we went to some lengths to do that, to raise the level of information and debate on this important choice of technology.

The member's question asks whether I complained about this to the ABC. The answer is that yes I did complain, but I complained publicly. I was very public about it and made this point—

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