Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on the National Broadband Network Companies Amendment (Commitment to Public Ownership) Bill 2024. The National Broadband Network was first dreamt up as a policy by former Labor senator Stephen Conroy in the lead up to the 2007 election. It was an ill-thought-through, careless and lazy piece of policy. I was so frustrated by it that I wrote a book, Wired Brown Land?, about the broadband battles in Australia. The book came out in 2009, and I'm often asked, 'How did it sell?' Well, for a book about telecommunication economics, extremely well!

My central point was that the policy that then Senator Conroy devised dismally failed because it sought to get Telstra to do something that it did not want to do—namely, to build a national fibre-to-the-node network for $4.7 billion and give its competitors access to that network. An even more ill conceived policy was then dreamt up by Stephen Conroy and Kevin Rudd. Notoriously, the details were sketched out on the back of a beer coaster on a flight on a government jet. Under that policy, the commitment was to spend what was supposed to be $43 billion on a fibre-to-the-premises network. If you go back and look at what was promised in the 2009 media release and press conference by Kevin Rudd, Stephen Conroy, Wayne Swan and Lindsay Tanner, just about every aspect of what they promised has been a manifest failure. As a result of this policy, some $30 billion of taxpayers' money has been spent, and the value for money taxpayers have received has been absolutely appalling, in stark contrast to the frugal Kiwis, who managed to get a national fibre network for a total taxpayer commitment of NZ$1.5 billion.

In the nearly 15 years I've been in the parliament, and having taken quite an interest in this issue, I've spoken many times on stupid pieces of legislation associated with Labor's National Broadband Network, yet the bill before the parliament today achieves an unenviable distinction. It is the most stupid, pointless, empty, nakedly political, entirely useless piece of cynical performative-gesture politics that Labor has managed to serve up in its nearly two decades of deeply undistinguished policymaking on the National Broadband Network.

In the time available to me I'd like to make three points: (1) Labor's record on the NBN is hopeless, (2) the policy framework on future ownership of the NBN was established by the Rudd government under Stephen Conroy as minister—and, indeed, it was his then representative in the House, the now Prime Minister, who explained what that policy framework would be, and (3) the bill before the House today which proposes to change that policy framework—which, for some 15 years, Labor has thought was absolutely fine—is a naked, meaningless, cynical and empty political stunt, and the coalition will be voting against it.

Let me start with the proposition that Labor's record on the NBN is hopeless. As I've already indicated, the plan they announced in 2007 completely failed because Telstra's then management team refused to cooperate. So they announced another plan in 2009. Kevin Rudd promised that his government would build a National Broadband Network that would serve 90 per cent of homes with access speeds of up to 100 megabits per second, take eight years to complete and cost $43 billion. None of this was achieved.

Let's judge what Labor delivered by the time it left office in 2013 against what had been promised in NBN's 2012 corporate plan. Labor promised 286,000 premises passed by June 2013. NBN Co fell a full 100,000 premises, or almost 40 per cent, short of its target, and, of the premises it claimed, many were designated as so-called service class 0 or service class 1, meaning they could not actually provide a service at all.

Labor was systematically dishonest about what the NBN was delivering. And the man who was communications minister at the time is Australia's current Prime Minister, the man who just loves being upgraded to seat 1A. Let me remind you what happened. In August 2013, during the election campaign, the then Minister for Communications, the member for Grayndler, stood in front of a big red button and announced that broadband was now available to 5,400 homes and businesses in Sydney's western suburbs: 'It's fantastic to see that the NBN fibre network is now available,' he said. What he didn't say is that close to 1,000 of these were service class 0, and 98.6 per cent of these homes had no fibre connection to them. By the time of the 2013 federal election, NBN Co said it had passed 209,000 premises, but close to 80 per cent of these had no fibre going into the home. It was not fibre to the premises; it was fibre to the press release.

When the coalition took over responsibility for the NBN we set about fixing the problem in a methodical way. Our 2013 strategic review recommended using a combination of rollout technologies—the multitechnology mix. Had we continued with Labor 's model it would have taken up to five years longer to complete the rollout and would have cost billions of dollars more. If we'd stuck to Labor 's plan then, when the pandemic hit and millions of Australians moved overnight to working and studying from home, Australia would have been in a dreadful mess. But, thanks to the coalition's work, the NBN was ready for the challenge, with 98 per cent of premises around the country—over 11 million—able to connect in early 2020.

I've said it before and I'm very pleased to say it again: as the communications minister when the pandemic hit Australia, I am enormously proud of the efforts made across Australia's telecommunications sector. NBN Co, Optus, Telstra, TPG, Vodafone, Aussie Broadband and a whole range of other companies came together to keep the network operating when Australians desperately needed it, and that was critical to the way our nation was able to get through the pandemic.

Let me turn now to Labor 's policy framework on NBN ownership. This is the framework developed by Labor and legislated in 2011. It carefully sets out the steps that, in the judgement of the Labor Party, would need to happen before the NBN could be sold by the government to private owners. Let me quote from the minister's second reading speech in this place on the National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011:

The first bill in the package, the NBN companies bill, obligates NBN Co. Ltd to limit its operations to, and focus them on, wholesale-only telecommunications. It also sets out arrangements for the eventual sale of the Commonwealth's stake in the company once the NBN rollout is complete, including provisions for independent and parliamentary reviews prior to any privatisation, and for the parliament to have the final say on the sale. The bill also creates a power for the Governor-General to make regulations concerning future private ownership and control of NBN Co. Ltd, and establishes other relevant reporting, governance and enforcement mechanisms.

As such, the bill deals with arrangements for both today and into the future.

I remind the House that these are not my words; I'm quoting the words of the then minister, the member for Grayndler, now the Prime Minister. He went on to say:

Taking into account the recommendations of the implementation study on the NBN, the Commonwealth will retain full ownership of NBN Co. Ltd until the rollout of the NBN is complete.

He then went on to say:

After the communications minister has declared that the rollout is complete, the productivity minister may direct the Productivity Commission to undertake a 12-month inquiry into a number of matters. These may include the regulatory framework for the NBN, and the impacts of a sale of NBN Co. Ltd on the Commonwealth budget, consumer outcomes and competition. Within 15 sitting days of the Productivity Commission inquiry report being tabled, a parliamentary joint committee on the ownership of NBN Co. Ltd is to be established, according to the practice of parliament, to examine the report of the Productivity Commission inquiry. This joint committee will report to both houses of parliament within 180 days of its appointment. After it reports, the finance minister may, by disallowable instrument, advise that conditions are suitable for an NBN Co. Ltd sale scheme.

As is clear from this extensively quoted material, the minister of the day laid out a clear framework which needed to apply before the National Broadband Network could be sold. He did not say the NBN could never be sold. Instead, he set out a comprehensive series of steps which would need to occur before the parliament was given the opportunity to consider an instrument, prepared by the finance minister, advising that conditions were suitable for an NBN sale scheme.

Of course what this means is that under the existing legislation, unless both houses of parliament agree, no sale can occur. As I have informed the House, the minister who explained these required stages to the House so carefully and thoroughly in his second reading speech is, of course, the member for Grayndler, the current Prime Minister, enthusiastic recipient of air-travel upgrades and keen real estate investor.

Let us be clear: there is a comprehensive framework in the legislation, developed and passed by the Australian Labor Party, setting out all the things that would have to happen before the NBN could be sold. Critically, one of those steps involves the tabling of a disallowable instrument—that is, an instrument which can be disallowed by a majority vote of parliamentarians in either house. No privatisation could occur unless there was majority support for it in the parliament. That has been the policy setting since 2011—the policy settings devised and implemented by the Australian Labor Party.

Given the realities I have just explained, any reasonable observer would ask: what is the possible point of the bill which is before the House now? Given that privatisation of the NBN could not occur unless a majority in both houses of parliament agreed to it, what possible additional work does the bill before the House do today? The answer is clear. It does no substantive or real work at all. That is why I say this bill is the most stupid, pointless, empty, nakedly political, entirely useless piece of cynical, performative gesture politics that Labor has managed to serve up in its nearly two decades of deeply undistinguished policymaking on the NBN. That is why the coalition will be voting against it.

This is not the first time the current Prime Minister and his communications minister have tried on this particular stunt. Similarly, in the lead up to the 2022 election, they tried to bring on a big political fight about whether there was some difference between the parties about the future of the NBN. On 17 November 2021, this dynamic duo issued a media release containing this ringing commitment: 'Labor will also keep the NBN in public hands.' It attracted virtually no attention then and it's not attracting much attention now.

This is a non-issue. The existing legislative framework, introduced in a rich irony by the current Prime Minister in 2011, sets out very clearly what has to happen before the National Broadband Network could ever pass out of public ownership. It cannot happen unless there is majority support for it in both houses of parliament.

If the member for Grayndler and the member for Greenway had any capacity for shame left, if they had any self-knowledge at all, they would be curled up on the floor in writhing agonies of embarrassment at having brought forward this ludicrous bill. I say, for the third time, this bill is the most stupid, pointless, empty, nakedly political, entirely useless piece of cynical, performative gesture politics that Labor has managed to serve up in its nearly two decades of deeply undistinguished policymaking on the NBN.

I say to anybody who is listening tonight, you should be very cross that the Prime Minister and the minister have wasted the time of the national parliament on this ludicrous joke of a bill. I am very pleased to say the coalition will be having nothing to do with this useless bill.

Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—It is Labor governments that build. It was a Labor government that made the decision to build the National Broadband Network. Then we saw, time and time again, the Liberal Party and the National Party try and block it. We've known that time and time again when it comes to the builders versus the blockers.

We heard just then from the Manager of Opposition Business—the ironic Manager of Opposition Business—who gave us a lecture on 'stupid and pointless'. I think there was nothing more stupid and pointless than choosing copper over fibre. That was the stupid and pointless decision that the Liberal Party made back in 2013. Again, that's why I have no trust when it comes to how those opposite will seek to ruin, wreck, damage and destroy the National Broadband Network for the future. It is essential that we legislate to keep it in public hands. The Australian people have invested in the National Broadband Network. The Australian people rely on the National Broadband Network every day for education, for their jobs and to enjoy the great joys of living in Australia.

We know the privatisation record of those opposite. I know it was the WA Liberals who wanted to privatise Western Power, sending power prices through the roof for Western Australian households. I opposed that, and the Western Australian people backed us on that. We know that the Liberal and National parties sold Medibank Private. They sold it out. Then we also had a grand plan to privatise the Medicare payments threshold. They got to the idea of privatising the Medicare payments threshold because the now Leader of the Opposition couldn't get his plan for a GP tax through. He got so angry and so aggressive that he decided instead to go and try to privatise the Medicare payments.

That is why it is essential that we keep the National Broadband Network in public hands, where it belongs. This bill, the National Broadband Network Companies Amendment (Commitment to Public Ownership) Bill 2024, will make sure that this critical infrastructure, which reaches some 12.4 million premises in Australia, stays in public hands. It is too important to be put into the hands of a private operator or to be sold off to fill some Liberal Party or National Party debt black hole in the future. We know that, currently, 8.6 million homes and businesses across Australia are connected to the National Broadband Network. They connect because of the security provided by a public provider. We owe it to them to give them that security for the future.

This legislation will make a difference. It will remove the legislative framework that would enable the privatisation of NBN Co. It's time to stop that option being on the table. We've been through such a journey in this country. Back on 18 June 2007, we saw the Howard government—of which the now Leader of the Opposition was a minister—dragged kicking and screaming to finally come to a plan where they were going to give $900 million to Elders and Optus to develop an internet network for the regions. After so long doing nothing, they finally said they would do something. They also promised that they would deliver 'a state-of-the-art broadband network with coverage for rural and regional areas'. Again, what we saw was a number of experts come out and blast that $1.9 billion package. Again and again, we saw the then Howard government, of which the now Leader of the Opposition was a key member, try to play catch up, because that's what it was.

It was Labor that in 2007 said, 'We finally need national action for this technology of the future to connect Australians, to connect families—to connect people—to one another through this incredible technology,' which, again, is now relied on by some 8.6 million households and businesses across this country.

I will take the interjections from those opposite. They come in here and tell us how much they wish broadband services could've improved if only they'd been in government for almost a decade and if only they'd taken that opportunity! Rather than trying to trash the NBN, which is what they spend all their time doing, they went through these outdated technologies of copper—copper didn't work when it rained and when there was electrical interference, and, at best, it would give you 25 megabits per second—because they couldn't bring themselves to ever admit that fibre was better.

They couldn't bring themselves to admit that.

When those opposite last came into government and were developing their policies, this was the dominant view of the Liberal and National parties. We had then opposition leader Abbott tell former opposition leader Turnbull he wanted him to 'demolish' the government's National Broadband Network. That was their stated policy goal—to demolish the National Broadband Network. Then the former Leader of the Opposition, who became a future Prime Minister, Turnbull declared the NBN would be the absolute focus of this with that goal to destroy it.

I'll just remind the Australian people how much the Liberal Party and the National Party struggled to understand the importance of broadband. What we saw was then opposition leader Abbott describe it as 'essentially a video entertainment system'. I dare anyone opposite to say that in their electorates today. It is so much more. It is essential for small business. I stand up for my small businesses, and I know they need the NBN. If you want to sell it off, if you want to sell it out, if you want to stick them with copper, by all means do it.

We then had the tech genius the then Leader of the Opposition tell us, 'We are absolutely confident that 25 megs is going to be enough, more than enough, for the average household.' Tell that to practically anyone in Australia today. We then had the network explained to us by the then Leader of the Opposition, who said, 'All those people sending messages from their iPhones and Blackberries, all those people sitting in airport lounges using their computers, they don't rely on fixed line services.' I hope that in the 10 years since those opposite have learnt that actually wi-fi eventually does connect to the fixed line service. The fixed line service and the backhaul network, of which the National Broadband Network is an essential part, do matter.

Again, those opposite said they wanted to axe the National Broadband Network and get it out of the way. We had the then Leader of the Opposition come out and say, 'The National Broadband Network is a luxury Australia cannot now afford.' But we know that was completely the wrong call. We couldn't afford the delays in action and the copper obsession of the Liberal and National parties. And then they promised probably the biggest lie of all, which was, 'I want our NBN rolled out within three years, and Malcolm Turnbull is the right person to make this happen.' Not only did it not roll out in three years; Malcolm Turnbull was definitely not the right person to make it happen.

But now we are making progress again on getting fibre and fast broadband to the people and small businesses of Australia. Earlier this month we reached the milestone—and this is something we can all celebrate—of nine million Australian homes and businesses being able to make the switch to ultrafast NBN. That means that 90 per cent of people on the fixed line NBN network can get access to up to one gigabyte of data per second by the end of 2025. Compare that to the measly 25 megabits a second that was being offered by the Liberal Party and the National Party: it is a significant improvement.

When I think about what that means to some 82,000 households and businesses in my electorate, I know it means they now have the benefits of fibre broadband. I know because it was the story of my household even. We were on the coalition's old copper network. It was so unreliable that we couldn't use that network. Now, thankfully, we're on the fibre network.

I know that benefits families in Ashfield, Bassendean, Bayswater, Bedford, Coolbinia, Dianella and East Perth. They are all getting access to fibre NBN, but it does not stop there. Eden Hill, Embleton, Highgate, Inglewood and Joondanna are all getting access to fibre NBN, something they were denied by those opposite. Leederville, Maylands, Menora, Morley, Mount Hawthorn, Mount Lawley, North Perth, Northbridge, Osborne Park and Perth are all getting access to fibre NBN, as well as Tuart Hill, West Perth and Yokine. It means that families get not only the benefits of fast broadband but the benefits of saving, on estimates from the National Broadband Network itself, more than 100 hours and $2,580 in travel costs a year.

What we know now is that the average home has some 22 connected devices on average. That, again, means that the 25-megabits-per-second unreliable copper that those opposite tried to sell for so long does not do the job.

If I think about what that really means for families, where you've got students we're not just trying to act by cutting their HECS debt or giving them access to fee-free TAFE; we're trying to give them the tools of learning for the 21st century, giving them ultrafast broadband. When it comes to supporting small businesses and people who are starting new businesses, again, the tool and the access to start that new business is ultrafast broadband—whether it be at your business or home.

When it comes to people who might be looking to spend more time with family and friends, we've got the great benefits of being connected through videoconferencing, which doesn't require as much travel—as I just said, reducing and saving up to 100 hours, and reducing people's carbon footprint. It makes a huge difference. Again, what I know from my constituents is that they want broadband.

Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Not in Bundeena.

Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Indeed, what I'm hearing from some of those opposite is that people in their electorates want ultrafast broadband too, and I would hope that those members opposite go back to their electorates and say: 'Did you know that the reason it's taken so long is because the Liberal and the National Party made a mistake. We made a mistake by backing the wrong technology.'

Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm going back to my electorate and saying that the Minister for Communications will not give them the NBN in Bundeena.

Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They made a mistake by backing the wrong technology, by choosing the technology of copper rather than the technology that was always going to be right, which was fibre. They make this mistake a lot of times; they look to the technologies of the past rather than the technologies of the future. They looked to copper rather than fibre. They look to nuclear rather than renewables. They are always looking for the technologies of the past rather than the opportunities of the future, and what we want to make sure is that, as we get more investment—

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker, this is getting ridiculous. You need to deal with it. She's got a problem; if she can't stop talking, she should leave the chamber.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't know why some of those opposite are so exercised about trying to keep an essential public service in public hands. I don't know what is that they dislike about public services.

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They just love privatisation.

Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They love privatisation; they tried to privatise the work that was being done in Centrelink. They tried to privatise Western Power, in my great state of Western Australia. Deputy Speaker, I note that my power bills and your power bills—my constituents and your constituents have cheaper power bills because that privatisation of Western Power did not go ahead.

Again, I think there are real benefits in keeping the National Broadband Network in public hands where it belongs. It is absolutely essential infrastructure. I don't want to see it sold off to some overseas conglomerate. I don't want to see it sold off into the private market where they care more about profit than making sure that every Australian gets the quality service of broadband, which is now essential for people's learning, essential for their work, essential for their social connection and, more and more often now, essential for their safety as well. We know that many medical devices can now be very effectively enhanced by access to fast broadband, giving people more insights into their health and their health needs.

When it comes to keeping the National Broadband Network in public hands, I think most Australians will say, 'Yes, that's right.' We saw the sell-off of Telstra and how that held Australia back when it came to making sure that we had the technologies of the future. We took the brave decision, and I want to commend what the member for Kennedy said—that former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be remembered as a visionary for backing this technology and for backing this initiative, to make sure that Australians do have access to ultrafast broadband. We're cleaning up a decade of confusion, delay and copper wires strung across the country. We're putting the fibre in, we're getting it done and we're keeping it in public hands.

Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have seen some weird things in this place in my short time here but this desperate move by the Albanese government is right up there, taking a podium place in the super weird and unnecessary category of legislation coming before the Australian parliament this term.

Last sitting period the government, literally apropos of nothing, ran into the chamber at 9.01 on 9 October to present this bill, the National Broadband Network Companies Amendment (Commitment to Public Ownership) Bill 2024.

There followed the strangest of second reading speeches, first from the Minister of Communications and then from the Prime Minister himself—with a hitherto unrecognised passion for telecommunications policy—in which he lauded the NBN and its importance to the Australian community like he'd just discovered the internet. There followed a question time in which almost every question from the government to itself went to the ownership of the NBN and the desperate, urgent need to safeguard the future of the NBN. What? Where on earth did this come from? Has there been a raging debate about the public or private nature of the NBN? No. Is the NBN about to go broke, and it needs a public bailout? No. Is there a secret plan on either side to sell the NBN? No. Is there a problem of any sort to solve with the NBN being in public or private ownership? No, there is not.

I can tell you what the problem is that this Albanese Labor government is trying to solve for. It's the truly terrible political freefall situation in which the Prime Minister finds himself as we head into an election year. It has been a truly terrible few weeks for the Prime Minister—in fact a terrible few months, in fact a truly terrible end to 2024 and, let's be honest, an entirely terrible term of parliament.

In his speech on this bill, the Prime Minister talked about all the things the NBN is able to do to help this country get ahead and achieve. And I agree, having served on the board of the NBN from July 2018 until I resigned to seek preselection to stand in the 2022 federal election. I agree with the Prime Minister wholeheartedly. The NBN has greatly facilitated banking, health and education. But for the coalition government changing to a multitechnology mix back in 2013, the NBN would never have been finalised in time to get this country through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PM didn't mention the difference the NBN has made to entertainment, with all the high-quality streaming into our homes and the exceptional Australian content we are now able to see on our hand-held screens—except that's not what it did.

As an aside, you see—I note the irony—on the morning that the Prime Minister rushed in here to present this supposedly urgent legislation, I was meeting with Screen Producers Australia, representatives of Hoodlum Entertainment, Archipelago Productions, the Film Television and Radio School, Fremantle Australia, Ludo Studio, Media Stockade, New Town Films, the National Institute of Dramatic Art and Roadshow—great, great Australians who have contributed over decades to our best Australian content, like Bluey, Neighbours, Wentworth, HeartbreakHigh, Grand DesignsI love that show—and RedDog, Happy Feet, Muriel's Wedding, Mao's Last Dancer and The Castle. They explained to me the crisis confronting their industry. Two years ago they were promised a local content quota for the streaming corporations, which was going to take effect on 1 July 2024. Here we are, two years since that promise was made, and the sector has heard precisely nothing from the Albanese government—no action, no support for our local screen industry and, frankly, no sign of support between now and the next election. Yet somehow—somehow—saving the NBN is the most vital thing to the Australian economy. It can be pulled from the blue—urgent, urgent, urgent—and drafted overnight. The NBN must be saved! Why, you may ask.

The minister and Prime Minister have been keen to tell us this legislation will ensure NBN prices are more affordable for consumers. What? I'm sorry, you just couldn't make this stuff up. NBN prices since this government was elected have gone up. Back in October 2023, NBN announced significant changes to its pricing. Lighter use packages got cheaper, and prices for NBN 25 and NBN 100 got cheaper—excellent—but prices for the much more popular NBN 50 package went up. So now some six million Australian households are paying up to 14 per cent more for their NBN packages with one of the retailers. Did these changes result from careful pricing, planning and direction from the Albanese government? No. They happened because the NBN finally settled its special access undertaking with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Earlier this year, on 1 May, the NBN said in a press release:

Like many other businesses in Australia and worldwide, nbn has been impacted by higher input costs of materials from suppliers. The wholesale prices that nbn charges to retailers in FY25 will increase by approximately 4.1 per cent, on average, across nbn's range of wholesale services. This reflects the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index … over the twelve months to the December 2023 quarter.

The NBN's prices road map is influenced by the CPI, and we all know this government's record on the CPI. Under this government, monthly CPI reached a peak at over eight per cent in December 2022, and almost two years later we are finally seeing an inflation rate with a two in front of it, consistent with the Reserve Bank of Australia's inflation target of two to three per cent, but core inflation, the figure that matters most and on which the RBA makes its decisions regarding interest rates, remains at 3.5 per cent, higher than all of our major trading partners—higher than the US, the UK and Canada—and the IMF predicts it will remain at 3.6 per cent in 2025, higher than its forecast for Germany at 2.1, the UK at two, Canada and the USA 1.9 and France, Italy and Japan at 1.8. The rest of the world is already seeing interest rate relief—but not here. Therefore, it should be no surprise that a record number of small businesses are failing.

On the same morning as the Prime Minister and minister for communications rushed in here with their urgent bill, the Australian had an article which read as follows: 'Company insolvencies have hit record highs, with more than 6,600 firms faltering in the six months to September, fuelling warnings small businesses are struggling to stay afloat amid high inflation and interest, increasingly complex regulations and cyberattacks.' Australian insolvency statistics revealed by ASIC reveal company insolvencies capturing firms entering external administration for the first time hit 11,053 in 2023-24, swelling overall insolvencies since the 2022 election to 22,800.

Well, I've got some good news for those 22,800 companies that have gone broke since this Albanese government was elected: the NBN is going to stay in public hands. I'm sorry to break the news, but the NBN is in public hands and it has been since the legislation was passed to create the NBN in 2011. This government has done nothing—literally nothing—to bring NBN prices down either between 2011 and 13, when they lost power, or since their return to the Treasury benches in 2022. Nor—news flash—could it, lest it want to risk being found to be a shadow director of the NBN board.

If anyone today is wondering why the Albanese government is doing this—is it something clearly thought through, carefully planned? Did they have a long-term goal to remove the otherwise even-longer-term possibility of maybe one day privatising the NBN, the process for which is set out in the Labor government's own act of 2011 in part 3 of division 2, called 'Ownership and control of the NBN Co'? That part provides for the NBN to be privatised if and when:

(a) the Communications Minister has declared that, in his or her opinion, the national broadband network should be treated as built and fully operational;

(b) the Productivity Minister—

And, by the way, this government doesn't have one, which is just as well given it's the weakest productivity level in six decades.

… has caused to be tabled in both Houses of Parliament a report of an inquiry by the Productivity Commission;

(c) the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Ownership of NBN Co—

News flash: that doesn't exist either.

… has examined the Productivity Commission's report;

(d) the Finance Minister has declared that, in his or her opinion, conditions are suitable for the entering into and carrying out of an NBN Co sale scheme …

Again, news flash for the Albanese government: while condition (a) has been completed, none of (b), (c) or (d) are either underway or even in contemplation by either side of government. There was no imminence to a sale. This is pure posturing—and mightily convenient financial posturing, if I may say so myself. You see, three months ago the NBN repaid the last tranche of public loan to the Commonwealth on 30 June. In its financial report of 13 August this year, the NBN announced:

The company refinanced the remaining balance of $5.5 billion relating to the $19.5 billion Commonwealth Government loan in full by 30 June 2024. NBN Co's capital strategy remains focused on funding network investments and maintaining a strong liquidity position.

So riddle me this: the Albanese government lets the company fully repay that loan to the Commonwealth, which it did by seeking more advantageous loan terms on the private market at the time, and in doing so the Albanese government boosts its budget coffers, reinforcing its ever-so-persistent, Liberal-light, 'we're so responsible with the budget' rhetoric, and then, money in the bank, declares the NBN will always be in public ownership.

Thanks, NBN, for repaying the debt, but if you don't mind, we'll just keep the title deeds. What an absurd, indulgent, 'Look, an eagle,' tactic from this lot.

I knew these guys were in trouble politically, but this desperate move shows you just how deep that trouble is. At 8.59 am on 9 October, when the minister ran into introduce this bill, no-one was talking about privatisation at the NBN. It has been a long-standing option—an eventual plan—one for which the NBN had been carefully, diligently and responsibly managed to keep that option open, ensuring it was run efficiently and effectively with the best of private sector know-how in its leadership and board ranks to ensure the best use of this public investment in a dynamic and constantly changing telecommunications market.

This was a Labor Party plan and, in 2010, the then Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, issued a press release which said:

Senator Conroy said the Gillard Government remained firmly committed to selling its stake in NBN Co after the network was fully built and operational, subject to market conditions and security considerations.

Labor then put the sale provisions into the 2011 act.

When the Labor Party dreamt up the NBN back in the 2000s, it was a one-size-fits-all fibre to the node to each and every Australian home—no matter the distance, no matter the need and no matter the use case. When the Abbott government was elected in 2013, the NBN was a shambles, with less than 50,000 homes connected to the grid.

Today the NBN, thanks to coalition policy, provides a plethora of internet solutions to the best the places where they are suited. The multitechnology mix sees Australian homes and businesses served by fibre to the home or premises, fibre to the building, HFC, fibre to the curb, fibre to the node, fixed wireless, Sky Muster satellite, and shortly, LEO satellites.

As a result of coalition government policy, the NBN is largely complete, providing fast internet across this enormous nation—a territory larger than the USA and larger than the European Union landmass. Labor's record in the NBN is truly appalling and needs some exploration here. You might remember the original plan from that side of politics was for rolled-gold fibre to every single home, paid for by you, the Australian taxpayer. When the Abbott government was elected, there were barely 50,000 homes connected to this Rolls-Royce version of the NBN. Labor's plan was indulgent, expensive and illusory. When a full review was undertaken, after Labor lost the 2013 election, it was found their decadent plan was going to cost the Australian taxpayer $73 billion—back in 2013 figures.

The coalition government's review of the planned rollout was summed up beautifully by an AFR editorial in 2013:

Who would have thought? It turns out that a massive government-run telecommunications monopoly that was built from scratch and which aims to push other competitors out of the market is very expensive. As things stand, the grand monument dreamt up by the Rudd government's telecommunications minister Stephen Conroy will leave Australia with close to the highest broadband prices in the developed world.

That was the model we inherited. By the time the Albanese government was elected in May 2022, the build had been finished for two years, and more than eight million Australian homes were connected to the NBN.

On 9 October, the Prime Minister came into this chamber—breaking with all common practice—to give a speech about this bill. In it he said:

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam once said that his definition of equality was every child in Australia having a quiet room in which to study and a desk with a lamp to read by. That was in the 1970s. In 2024, every Australian child needs to be sitting at their desk with access to the NBN.

Gough Whitlam turned this country into an economic basket case. It seems the Prime Minister is determined to do the same.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The National Broadband Network Companies Amendment (Commitment to Public Ownership) Bill 2024 is a really important bill, which reaffirms this government's commitment to the public ownership of what is one of Australia's most critical infrastructure assets, the NBN. I just don't know where to begin with some of what I've heard from those opposite while I've been sitting here waiting to speak.

The member for Flinders has just said that there's something wrong with the Prime Minister saying that, in this day and age, every Australian child should have a place to study with access to the NBN. I think that is an excellent thing for us to aspire to. But what we've heard from those opposite is that they just don't get vision. They don't get nation-building. They don't want people to have things that they don't pay for, if they can't afford them. That's what this is really about—the idea that every Australian would have had access to fibre-to-the-premises broadband as was originally proposed by the absolutely visionary plan under the Rudd government that was the NBN, and that those opposite absolutely trashed in 10 years in government, among other things that they've trashed—because they just don't get it.

They're not vision people. They don't want to see Australia leading the world.

Part of the point of the NBN when it was initially proposed was the ubiquitous nature of fast broadband and that the fact that it was to be ubiquitous—that everyone was to have access to it, that everyone would have this very fast broadband—would revolutionise the way we delivered services and provided access to things like education and health care for people in regional and remote areas, the people that those opposite always claim to be representing. But, anyway, here we are.

This bill is an important bill that makes clear that keeping the NBN preserved in public ownership is an explicit requirement. It removes the current conditions for terminating government ownership by repealing most of part 3 of the NBN act, because Labor is the party of the NBN.

As I said, the NBN was a visionary idea under the Rudd government. It was established and began to be rolled out with the goal of a fully connected Australia. The original vision for a fibre-to-the-premises connected Australia was trashed by those opposite when they came to government, and it has been left to the Albanese Labor government to clean up their mess—as it has been with so many policy areas. But make no mistake: those opposite would jump at the first opportunity to sell this important asset if given the chance.

The speeches that I've heard in the short time I've been here make it very clear that they don't understand the NBN and would take the first opportunity to trash it. Just like they did with Telstra, just like they did with Medibank and just like they did with the Australian Public Service, the coalition are addicted to privatisation and outsourcing, with the Australian public always paying the price. What we're doing today is ensuring the NBN's future. Commitment to public ownership is vital for the NBN to deliver the services Australians rightly expect.

Let's look back at the history of the NBN under those opposite. The Liberal Party's handling of the NBN stands as a stark reminder of how critical it is to approach significant national infrastructure with vision and with commitment to the public interest—vision and commitment to the public interest. I know that's difficult for those opposite.

Under the negligence of the coalition, the initial vision for a world-class fibre based NBN was undermined. Instead, they opted for a multitechnology mix that left Australia lagging behind our global peers in both speed and reliability. This was an approach that resulted in increased costs, blown-out timeframes and outcomes that fell well short of what Australians were promised and what we deserved. Despite claiming that their strategy would save money and accelerate the rollout, the reality was an NBN fraught with issues—delays, unexpected costs and widespread dissatisfaction among users.

The Liberal Party's poor decision-making left the network underresourced and underperforming, impacting businesses and households alike. What should have been an enabler for economic growth and digital participation became a source of frustration for millions of Australians. Their governance also demonstrated a willingness to prioritise privatisation over public benefit. This is what they always do.

In 2020 they declared the network built and fully operational, a move that set the stage for its eventual sale. They even supported NBN Co's push to raise wholesale prices by CPI plus three per cent, a policy that would have hit Australians hard, undermining affordability in favour of profit-driven motives. It took the intervention of Labor and the ACCC to protect consumers from these proposed price hikes.

The coalition's legacy is marked by missed opportunities and the weakening of what could have been an unparalleled national asset. That is what's so sad about this: the inability of the coalition to embrace a vision for Australia to lead the world, which is what we were trying to do with the NBN, and for all Australians to share in that—for everyone to have a chance to have the fastest possible broadband that would revolutionise the way we did things. Instead they prioritised short-term gains and ideological commitments over long-term strategic investment, and the Liberal Party left Australia playing catch-up on connectivity and digital capability. Our government is committed to reversing this legacy and ensuring that such missteps are not repeated.

We stand by the principle that the NBN must remain in public hands, fostering upgrades, innovation and affordability for all. It's not just about restoring what was compromised; it's about moving towards a vision for a more connected, just and secure future for Australia. This stance is driven by the need for continuous upgrades to the network, regulatory oversight of wholesale pricing and, most importantly, the delivery of affordable broadband for all Australians.

We're delivering on the NBN's promise of equity and access to the digital economy. In 2022 the Albanese Labor government underscored this commitment through the updated statement of expectations for NBN Co. Our directive was clear: public ownership is the cornerstone that will enable us to extend more fibre throughout the fixed-line network, lay the groundwork for a transition into next-generation satellite technology and modernise our universal service obligations. These steps are essential for a more connected and inclusive Australia—one that leaves no community behind, whether they be in the heart of our cities of the vast expanses of our rural and regional areas.

Improvements to the network are ongoing. Just last week I was pleased to hear that further upgrades will begin shortly in my electorate of Canberra—and this is something Canberrans have speaking to me about. When we were in opposition last term, people were disgusted with the access they had to the NBN and how far it fell short of what was promised. I'm proud that we are fixing that, including here in my electorate.

The fibre upgrade program has been bolstered by the government's $2.4 billion commitment over four years to provide an additional 1.5 million fibre-to-the-node premises with access to full fibre. As a result, 90 per cent of premises in the NBN fixed-line footprint can place an order for gigabit capable services by the end of next year. In our recent announcement, 37 ACT suburbs have been announced for inclusion in the fibre upgrade program. These include Ainslie, Braddon, Bruce, Cook, Dickson, Garran, Griffith, Hawker, Kaleen, Lyneham, Macquarie, Narrabundah, Reid, Turner and Yarralumla here in my electorate of Canberra.

Providing faster speeds for Canberrans is part of the publicly owned National Broadband Network. I think a lot of people in this place don't understand that Canberra is a real community with real needs as well. I know a lot of those opposite love to trash Canberra because public servants live here, and they hate them too. But it's really good that we are getting improved access to the NBN because we don't have it either, because what those opposite, in government, did to the NBN—10 years of neglect and trying to destroy it—affected us here in the nation's capital as well. I am pleased that we are addressing that and that those suburbs are getting what they should have got a long time ago thanks to the Albanese Labor government. The NBN is a Labor legacy worth protecting.

It is crucial to remember that the NBN isn't just an infrastructure project; it's a strategic asset intertwined with our national security and cybersecurity needs. Ongoing government ownership ensures the NBN's operations align with national interests, protecting Australia from the significant risks foreign ownership could pose. To sell off the NBN would be to jeopardise this oversight and expose Australia to serious sovereignty and security concerns. In this bill before the House, we reaffirm that the NBN is not just a commodity to be sold; it's a vital public service that underpins our economy, social fabric and national security.

The reaction to this bill by those opposite is very telling. It demonstrates yet again their ideological obsession with privatisation. I remind the House again, because it bears repeating, that the former coalition government, under the member for Bradfield, initiated measures in 2020 to prepare the NBN for sale, declaring it 'built and fully operational'. Having been here for the member for Bradfield's contribution to this debate, just a few speakers before, it is obvious that these are people that would destroy the NBN if they ever got back into government. They have a complete disdain for it because, as I said, it was a visionary nation-building project and was about universal access for all Australians—and these are things that don't sit comfortably with their ideology.

Their readiness for privatisation included supporting a proposal from NBN Co to raise wholesale prices by CPI plus three per cent, a move aimed at boosting revenue streams before a sale. This would have had significant repercussions for consumers, especially in terms of affordability. Labor, alongside the ACCC, firmly rejected this proposal in order to safeguard Australians from unnecessary price hikes. That would have been a disaster. We need only look at history to see the consequence of privatising public telecommunications infrastructure. The Howard government's sale of Telstra service is a cautionary tale. Promises were made about maintaining service quality at affordable prices, but those promises were never met. On top of that, the sale left the government without the leverage to spearhead the rollout of fibre broadband, necessitating the Rudd government's launch of the NBN project.

This bill did not appear out of thin air. Our ongoing consultations with communities across rural and regional Australia have sent a clear and consistent message. People want the NBN to remain under government ownership. They recognise that only with public oversight can the network continue to deliver modern, accessible and affordable communications services. Keeping the NBN in public hands is not just a strategic decision; it is a commitment to prosperity and connectivity for every Australian. It is about ensuring that the digital divide narrows and that no-one is left in the dark, disconnected from the opportunities that the modern world offers. Yes, to the member for Flinders, we do believe that in an updated version of Gough Whitlam's vision every child should have a place to study with a lamp on. We do believe that every Australian student should have the NBN—they should have access to reliable, fast broadband—because, if they don't have it, how will they ever keep up with their peers? How will they ever have the same opportunities if they don't have access to these things? And how will we ever deliver those things if we don't keep it in public hands, if it's not about building our nation or about a strategic asset to benefit all Australians that we regularly update and improve?

The Albanese Labor government will always stand firm when it comes to public ownership of the NBN. We will continue to safeguard the NBN from those who would seek to sell it off. The NBN is an essential tool for Australia's economic resilience, social equity and national security. Labor will not repeat the liberal mistakes of the past when it comes to privatisation. Instead, we will build on the promise of a connected, secure and inclusive future for all, because that is what Labor governments to. When we come into government, we bring vision. We bring the hopes of Australians, who rely on governments to ensure that they have the best chance, that every Australian has a chance at a happy, healthy, fulfilled life. Public education, universal health care, decent wages—these are things that you can thank Labor governments for. While we're talking about Gough Whitlam, I just came from a forum where we celebrated 50 years since Gough Whitlam protected the Great Barrier Reef. But those opposite say he left Australia an economic basket case. Well, where would we be without the vision of Labor governments? A place I don't want to see.

David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm also pleased to be speaking in favour of the National Broadband Network Companies Amendment (Commitment to Public Ownership) Bill 2024 and support any move to keep the National Broadband Network in public ownership. Last night, when I thought I might be speaking on this bill, I listened to the member for Fadden liken this debate to a Seinfeld episode. The truth is that the previous government did want to sell off the NBN and that those opposite have form when they eye off critical public infrastructure. The truth is that the whole Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government's approach to broadband was like a decade-long episode of Utopia or The Thick of It. But it's Australians who have paid the price for their negligence over the last 10 years.

As a government, we are determined not to make the same mistakes as former coalition governments, who have mismanaged communications policy in Australia for decades.

It comes from that starting point of not actually caring—thinking that these debates are about nothing when they are actually critical to the Australia not just of the now but of the decades to come. As much as they protest and try to airbrush history, the Liberals have shown a pathological desire to sell off critical assets. We know that the former coalition government had taken the initial legislative steps to prepare their NBN for sale, including declaring the network built and fully operational in 2020.

I wholeheartedly support this bill and the goal of providing a solid foundation for communication policy in this nation long into the future. When John Howard was swept from office in 2007, he left Australia as a broadband backwater. For those that remember, the privatisation of Telstra was a terrible policy outcome driven by ideological zealotry. Crucially, the sale also deprived the government of strategic levers to drive the investment necessary for Australians to fully access reliable high-speed broadband and the productivity and digital inclusion benefits that delivers. Of course, that was a government that had no understanding that this wasn't just to be an entertainment vehicle. This was to be a vehicle that was to transform workplaces and the way we deliver services. It's understandable that, when governments lack vision, they don't understand why you need to invest in the future.

Of course, Labor's decision in 2008 to deploy a government owned national broadband network rightly took a long-term view of the needs of Australian consumers and taxpayers in a changing world. The NBN was built by Australians for Australians. It belongs to all Australians, and it belongs in public hands. The NBN is an essential piece of national utility infrastructure, helping people connect regardless of where they live or work. It doesn't care for what postcode they might be under or what region or state of the country that they live in. This was initiated by Labor with a positive vision for the future, delivering equity, access and opportunity combined with sound, long-term economics. It meant that Australians would enjoy world-class connectivity, carrying the digital economy for decades to come.

What happened next? Enter the neoliberal wrecking ball of the Liberals, who attacked public ownership and any policy idea associated with it. Just as they sold out Australia on the privatisation of Telstra, the coalition sold out Australia again. They abandoned fibre and instead deployed an almost absurd copper alternative for $29 billion. By May 2022, when the Albanese government was elected, the coalition's second-rate NBN was $28 billion over budget—nearly double the cost—was four years behind schedule and backflipping to fibre. As I said before, the former coalition government had taken the initial legislative steps to prepare their NBN for sale. This was their game plan. They also supported an NBN submission to increase wholesale prices on their products by CPI plus three per cent to bolster their income streams in preparation for the sale. It was Telstra all over again. Fortunately this was rejected by Labor and the ACCC.

For those members that genuinely seek to represent regional Australia, they should be cognisant that, in government consultation on regional telecommunication services, there has been strong and clear feedback from communities in rural and regional areas that the National Broadband Network should stay under government ownership. We've had quite a number of speakers who've gotten up and, whilst it's connected, have talked about challenges around mobile coverage and about dealing with black spots. There are challenges across the country. There are significant parts of my electorate where we're still working through those issues. It beggars belief that the same people who are effectively making these arguments don't support the NBN remaining in public hands.

Keeping the NBN in public ownership is essential to continue to provide modern, accessible and affordable communications services in Australia. The Albanese government understands this, and it's delivering its vision for a world-class, high-speed broadband network. Over $3 billion in NBN fibre and fixed wireless upgrades are being delivered on time and on budget. More than 70,000 kilometres of new fibre has been rolled out and over 2,300 fixed wireless towers have been upgraded.

Whilst today's debate about this bill is about our vision to secure the long-term policy settings of the nation, I would like to flag that I will continue to work with the NBN to better outcomes for households and businesses in my electorate of Bean. Much has been achieved, but there is still more to do, and I will not rest until we get the results that Bean deserves. It is good to see that suburbs like Gordon, Banks and Conder in the southernmost parts of the electorate of Bean are amongst the suburbs that can now access these higher upgrades that are happening right around the country.

The rollout of the NBN has correlated with downward pressure on the cost of communications in Australia, with an overall nine per cent decrease in communications prices from 2017 to 2024 compared to a 22 per cent CPI growth over that time. It is only by keeping the NBN in public ownership that that vision can continue to be delivered, and only the Labor government has committed to this vision.

But it's not just the government that supports this policy; consumers support it, and not just the regional consumers I talked about before. The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network CEO, Carol Bennett, is on the record as supporting it. Workers support it. Shane Murphy, the Communication Workers Union national president, has publicly backed this move. These are the workers who work with this infrastructure every day. The industry representatives support it. For example, Optus interim CEO Michael Venter has said his company supports this initiative.

The Albanese government's position on the NBN is clear. In 2021, we made an election commitment to retain the NBN in public ownership, to keep broadband affordable and to complete building a world-class fibre network. In 2022, we formalised this commitment in a new statement of expectations for the NBN, and we have now introduced legislation to enshrine this position in law.

Labor understands the NBN is not just something that earns a rate of return; it's a critical piece of social and economic infrastructure. Under Labor, the NBN will be affordable, it will be reliable, it will be fast and it will be safe in public hands. I support this bill and the important goals behind it. It will be of great benefit for the nation and the electorate of Bean, which I represent.

To make this clear again, on this side of the House we strongly believe that the NBN needs to stay in full government ownership to support the ongoing upgrades of the network and to ensure ongoing regulatory oversight of NBN wholesale pricing, keeping broadband affordable for Australians. We know what happens when you privatise assets like this. As I said, the government made this commitment clear in the updated statement of expectations issued to the NBN Co in 2022.

Government ownership is essential to delivering the strategy for a more connected Australia, no matter what postcode you live in, including rolling out more fibre in the fixed line network; planning for the transition to next-generation satellites, which, of course, are going to be critical for parts of my electorate, like Norfolk Island; and modernising universal service obligations.

The NBN is crucial national infrastructure for cybersecurity and national security imperatives, requiring strong government oversight. This is best delivered through certain, ongoing government ownership. Any future sale of the NBN would likely involve foreign ownership, raising potentially serious national sovereignty and security risks.

As I mentioned before, the former coalition government had taken the initial legislative steps to prepare the NBN for sale, including declaring the network built and fully operational in 2020—one of the great works of fiction of our times. So when the member for Fadden talked about this debate as being a Seinfeld episode, a debate about nothing, it's not true. We know what their intent is. We know what would occur if they had the capacity to have control over the fate of the NBN again.

The sale of Telstra under the Howard government was a prime example of the coalition making promises on prices and services for telecommunications that were never delivered. The sale of Telstra also deprived the government of leverage to roll out fibre broadband in Australia, necessitating the Rudd government's establishment of the NBN in 2008.

Keeping the NBN in public ownership is essential for continuing to provide modern, accessible and affordable communication services for all Australians. This is a message that I get time and time again from constituents across the electorate of Bean, whether they be in the deep south, in the suburbs of Conder and Banks, in the Molonglo Valley, in the new suburbs out near Stromlo, or on Norfolk Island. My constituents are clear, and in accordance with their wishes I support this bill and I support the important goals behind it, which will be of great benefit to the nation.

I'm so proud to be a member of a government with a minister for communications as strong and as effective as the minister we have, a minister who is delivering to everyone right across our country, including all of my constituents in the electorate of Bean.

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The National Broadband Network Companies Amendment (Commitment to Public Ownership) Bill 2024 reaffirms the government's commitment to ongoing public ownership of the National Broadband Network and to remove existing conditions that create a pathway to privatisation of this vital national infrastructure. The bill commits to keeping the NBN wholly owned by the Australian people, including a new section, 43A, to make clear parliament's intention that NBN Co will remain wholly owned by the Commonwealth. The bill removes current conditions that, once satisfied, would enable a future government to privatise the company.

The Albanese government's position on the NBN has been clear for more than three years. We took to the last election a commitment to keep the NBN in public ownership, to keep broadband affordable in Australia and to complete building a world-class fibre network. In 2022 we formalised this commitment in a statement of expectations for the NBN, and through this bill we are enshrining this commitment in law.

The government's position has broad support in the community across consumer groups, regional representatives and the telco sector. The shadow minister admitted in his speech on this bill that the opposition has been on notice since at least 2021 that the government was committed to keeping the NBN in public ownership—so they have had at least three years to come up with a position.

I'm happy to stand corrected, but we heard over 20,000 words spoken by the opposition on this bill but not the seven words that Australians want to hear: 'We support keeping NBN in public ownership.' The member for Bradfield, the person who declared the NBN was 'built and fully operational' in 2020—the first step in a sale process—finally admitted what we suspected all along: the opposition are not supporting this bill because they don't support keeping the NBN in public ownership. Only a Labor government will keep the NBN owned by the Australian people to continue to deliver affordable, accessible world-class broadband for Australia.

I thank all members for their participation in the debate on this legislation.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the bill be now read a second time. There being more than one voice calling for a division, in accordance with standing order 133 the division is deferred until the first opportunity the next sitting day.

Debate adjourned.

House adjourned at 21:25