Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

He could easily be. I think he played some role in that. But I digress. We hear those opposite. They buy into this stuff, when they are hopelessly divided. Those in the gallery would recall that, when the member for Warringah was opposition leader, he basically gave the member for Wentworth a hospital handpass when he gave him the communications portfolio. He sent him out there with the explicit aim of destroying the NBN. That was the mission statement! We have here a program of great national significance, as great as the Snowy Mountains scheme. Imagine if Menzies had done that to Chifley's legacy. Imagine if he had sent out a member of the executive to destroy the Snowy Mountains scheme. Where would the nation's electricity infrastructure be today if we had had an opposition of such mindless destruction back then?

In his mind's eye, the member for Warringah remembered all those days at the University of Sydney and the great rivalry that existed even then between these great men of great ambition—for those listening, I say that facetiously. He had in his mind's eye that the future rivalry would play out in a coalition government. What he did was fit the member for Wentworth up with something that the Australian people would feel did not fit the national interest—that is, destroying the National Broadband Network.

Under the Howard government, people waited 11 years for any action at all. There were eight plans in 11 years. There was an extraordinary amount of talk and malarkey. Last night we had the 20th anniversary of the election of the Howard government and everyone was falling at John Howard's feet. That happens to prime ministers. After about 20 years people start to forget all the bad things. They forgot the inaction on broadband, which cost this nation dearly.

So with a hospital handpass the member for Warringah sent the member for Wentworth out to destroy the NBN. Of course, that was at great cost to the nation and to people in Gawler, Craigmore or anywhere else in the rural areas of my electorate who desperately want broadband so that their kids can get educated, so that they can run small businesses and so that they can avail themselves of the new technology of streaming television. That sounds unimportant but imagine if we had a government that set out to not have television. That is the equivalent these days—to not have the great communication devices. It is like being against the telegraph or any other bit of progress. Imagine if we had governments that were against radio, telegraph and television—against progress in all its forms—and sent ministers out there to destroy the networks.

So what did they do when they got to government? They appointed the Vertigan panel—

Mr Fletcher interjecting—

It is qualified in Liberal Party terms. It is stacked full of people who do not like the NBN. It is stacked full of people who are going to do the government's bidding.

Mr Fletcher interjecting—

I have awoken the member for Bradfield from his boredom and slumber. We do not often see much animation from him—apart from question time and just then. If you get him on certain subjects, away he goes—there is life! It is like awakening the mummy. Remember that movie The Mummy? That is what the member for Bradfield is like—talk about the NBN and you awaken the mummy!

These are the broad figures around the record of this great panel and this great minister, the now Prime Minister. This is a Prime Minister who will not last the test of time. We saw it just this week. There was open warfare between two prime ministers in the party room. It was extraordinary and it was over national security—over the defence white paper. There have been leaks and police inquiries. That is what we are seeing. You can trace it all back to one event. You can go back as far back as the University of Sydney when these two 'great men' were there and this great rivalry began.

So the member for Warringah gives the member for Wentworth the hospital hamper, and what did he come up with? Fibre to the node. Hooray! Well done! It takes us backward. He said it would cost $29.5 billion. That is now up to $56 billion for copper. Is the Copperart store still around? Remember Copperart?

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