Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Before the last election the Prime Minister promised to deliver the NBN to all Australians by the end of this year. However, internal documents leaked to The Sydney Morning Herald

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Interjections from my left are preventing me from hearing the member for Blaxland's question, including from the member for Grayndler and, I think, the member for Lalor, only because she has been interjecting incessantly. I am going to ask the member for Blaxland to start his question again, and I ask those behind him not to interrupt him.

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Before the last election the Prime Minister promised to deliver the NBN to all Australians by the end of this year. However, internal documents leaked to The Sydney Morning Heraldtoday reveal the Prime Minister's second rate copper NBN is in crisis—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Blaxland will not use props.

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and has failed to meet even a third of its internal rollout target. Will the Prime Minister finally accept responsibility for the mess and the chaos he has done to the NBN? (Time expired)

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the Manager of Opposition Business, I am just going to point out that the practice of a Prime Minister referring questions to other ministers is as old as question time itself. There is a good section in the Practice on it, but I will hear the Manager of Opposition Business.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I respect that that refers to when the policy area can be better answered by the line minister. But when the question is 'Does the Prime Minister take responsibility?' how on earth can the minister have a better idea than the Prime Minister?

Mr Nikolic interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Bass will cease interjecting. I do not think all the other members of the House would appreciate us having a long discussion of the Practice. I was reading it earlier. I do not have it with me. This folder is getting rather thick, but I can assure you it is in there. There is no point of order. I call the Minister for Major Projects, Territories and Local Government.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Territories, Local Government and Major Projects) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will tell the shadow minister what we take responsibility for. What we take responsibility for is delivering the NBN. What we take responsibility for is 1.775 million premises which are now able to connect to the NBN after the pathetic, hopeless and desperately incompetent legacy that we inherited from Labor, where barely 300,000 premises could connect.

The shadow minister seems to think that it is some kind of smoking gun that NBN works through contingencies and monitors progress against its target. Based upon my experience working in a large telecommunication company—an experience shared by the Prime Minister, with his experience as one of the leading investors in telecommunications in this country, and by many of the people on this side of the House who have serious business experience and know about what it takes to deliver a project, as opposed to making grand and empty promises—I will tell you what you do when you are serious about delivering a project. You constantly monitor your performance. You constantly look at contingencies. You constantly say, 'How are we doing?' And I will tell you how the NBN is doing: we are getting on with rolling out this network. We are already in a position where 1.775 million premises around the country are able to connect, and the rollout is continuing under a capable, competent, experienced board and management team—none of which existed when this government came to power. We are on the job. The NBN is getting the network rolled out. We stand by it, and we are proud of it.