House debates

Wednesday, 9 October 2024

Statements by Members

National Broadband Network Companies Amendment (Commitment to Public Ownership) Bill 2024

12:31 pm

Cameron Caldwell (Fadden, Liberal National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

():  Today we've seen one of the greatest political smokescreens that have ever been created in the history of this place. The NBN bill introduced today is a shameless stunt. The Prime Minister walked out of the chamber at 8 pm last night having given his apology to the Australian people at 7.59 and thought, 'Well, that day didn't go well.' I suspect he'd been playing Jenga over the weekend and was inspired to be a destructor actor. So he picked up the phone to some of his ministers, wanting to know what they had in the drawer. He phoned his friend Minister Giles first, but we know he had absolutely nothing to offer. He phoned the Minister for Education, but all the Prime Minister got was a long-winded story and then had to hang up. He phoned the Minister for Communications, and she said, 'Well, I've got this Mediscare kind of thing about the NBN and public ownership and creating a false story about how it might be sold and that sort of thing.' Bingo!

So all of today we've had a bunch of Labor talking points based on this: six pages of amending legislation. Do you think this is the priority for Australians during a cost-of-living crisis? This government could not be more out of touch.