Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think it's time we took the volume down after that rant from the minister. They say the hardest word to say is 'sorry', and I know it's impossible for that word to come out of the mouths of any of those opposite. In the alternative universe that those opposite inhabit, I note that this morning the foreign minister said to the party room that, and I'm quoting here, 'Julie Bishop tells the coalition room that the NBN is a success story for the coalition.' That is the alternative universe. Look, I'll be honest sitting on this side of the chamber: if that's the policy of the government, they will be the opposition very shortly because the people of Australia are onto this government. Don't take my word for it—

Mrs Prentice interjecting—

The member for Ryan says 'overconfident'. I'll ignore the 21 Newspolls that we're seeing; I'll ignore that poll after poll shows us that Australians do not trust, through you, Mr Deputy Speaker Coulton, you to handle telecommunications in this nation.

Let's deal with what the minister, who has now vacated the floor, just said. If that's what the foreign minister is saying about the NBN then I suggest she spend a little less time on the red carpet and a little more on blue carpet. I know, by listening to what the government says, that it does not match the commitments that it's promised the Australian people. We have had a lot of history lessons today. That's fine, that's the narrative from the government. We know that the Prime Minister had promised that every household in Australia would be connected to the NBN by last year. We know that the NBN, as promised by the Prime Minister, would cost $29.5 billion. That was your commitment to the Australian people. His multitechnology mess now costs $50 billion, a blowout of $20 billion. He made a commitment; it blows out—the assistant minister is shaking his head.

See this speech in context