Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In respect of motion No. 137, I would like to add some comments with respect to the proposed terms of reference in relation to the national broadband network. First and foremost, I reinforce Senator Conroy’s point about this being a live tender process. That means that such a reference not only would cause the kind of conflict and trouble for participants in that tender process that Senator Conroy outlined but points to the motivation of the opposition—that this is all about a spoiling effect on that process and about sabotaging Labor’s aim to establish a national broadband network in accordance with the policy it took to the last election. The constraints placed on the participants in that tender process are very real and are being treated extremely seriously by the Rudd Labor government.

I cannot remember such a deliberate exercise in sabotaging a stated policy and course of action by a government. It is particularly telling and noteworthy that the opposition has tried to do this in the 11th minute of the eleventh hour of its unfettered powers in the Senate chamber. To persist with this motion reinforces the fact that this is an effort to sabotage a very specific commitment.

This motion contains the longest, most comprehensive terms of reference I have ever seen on broadband from the opposition, which had spent 11½ years in government struggling to grasp these issues. To come out with such comprehensive terms of reference in circumstances where it has such a sabotaging effect also exposes the stunt that this is. We never saw this degree of detail or interest in these issues from the opposition when it was in government. It is further evidence that this is just a stunt.

Finally, I want to mention the drafting of this motion. It is carefully constructed, of course, to function in the capacity of only opposition members being present and in full control. If you read the terms of reference in this motion carefully, you will see the level of manipulation in how the select committee is constructed. It tells the true story of the abuse of this place that we are seeing in this motion. It is an utter disgrace.