Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the chamber to alert the House to the fact that the NBN asbestos contamination problem has made an appearance in Coffs Harbour, and that is not to be unexpected, given that it seems to be following the rollout. The matter is raised in today's Coffs Coast Advocate in an article entitled 'NBN unearths public fears'. It is of great concern to the people of Coffs Harbour. Whilst our response to these matters must always be measured, it is certainly of concern that shoddy workmanship has already been seen around Coffs Harbour. I have photographs here that provide quite graphic evidence of the project's shoddy workmanship. This may well now be transferring itself into the handling of asbestos, which is of very great concern.

Also of concern for the people of Coffs Harbour and the nation more widely is the fact that the statements of the CEO of NBN Co., Mike Quigley, cannot be relied upon. He has made an art form of deceiving and misleading the parliamentary committee which has oversight of the NBN. At recently as 19 April, Mr Quigley was questioned on the issue of asbestos. A member of the coalition asked him what his views were on the issue and he said, 'I would not say it is a big issue.' The real concern for the people of Coffs Harbour is not only the shoddy workmanship and the problems of potential asbestos contamination; there is a real issue here of the reliability people can have on the statements made by the CEO of NBN Co. and on NBN Co. itself.

We have a potentially very difficult situation. Unfortunately, it appears that a rerun of the pink batts debacle is starting to unfold before us. We have a CEO has who has said as recently as a couple of months ago that this is not a big issue. That is clearly a deceptive statement and it is just one of many that have been made to the parliamentary committee. People should be able to rely on the CEO of a major government agency to be truthful and honest, particularly on an issue as important as asbestos.

The Coffs Coast Advocate has quite rightly highlighted a problem which should not have occurred. This should have been dealt with properly. Instead, we have a pit that is fenced off with some tape around it. It is of concern to the people of Coffs Harbour. (Time expired)