Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With all the Prime Minister's changes to the original version of the NBN, can we still call it an NBN? I am sure this is the question that plagues the new communications minister, with the mess that he has inherited. What new Liberal-themed acronym can be put out there? The MTM—the Multi-Technology Mix? No, actually; it is Malcolm Turnbull's Mess!

The second-rate NBN that the Liberal government is offering is more expensive and relies primarily on outdated copper. Instead of future-proofing the country and rolling out fibre-optic cable in areas where the existing copper is in bad shape, the Turnbull government goes out and buys more copper. The 1,800 kilometres of copper that nbn co has purchased will last about five months. And what happens after that, no-one knows. They do not even know!

At estimates the other night, nbn co admitted that they would need to purchase more copper but there would not be enough manufactured to date. According to nbn co, the committee should not worry about this because, 'It won't affect the rollout. It's a supply issue. It's something that we'll deal with.' Well, let us hope they can deal with it, because there is not a lot that they appear to know. They do not know how much of the existing copper network needs to be replaced, and they do not know whether the amount of copper they need will be available to buy. But the Australian public is being told that this will not affect the rollout at all. It is a shambles.

Meanwhile, thousands of businesses and homes across McEwen are missing out on the opportunities high-speed broadband can bring. The Turnbull government says that it has an optimistic vision for Australia's future. With reliance on outdated copper, I would say someone needs to go and see Specsavers!

It is not an NBN. It is a mess—a mess created by a Prime Minister who is more focused on himself than he is on Australia.