Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

In relation to Senator Xenophon’s points, there are no guarantees. The only guarantee is preserving the Communications Fund under the legislation which was passed by this parliament—and which was not opposed by the Labor Party—to establish this Communications Fund in perpetuity in order to protect it from the passing whims of governments of the day and ensure that all of the earnings, which at five per cent would be $100 million a year, go to rural and regional telecommunications. The government has sought to provide some assurances about that, as I mentioned before, by providing in this year’s budget for $100 million a year over the forward estimates. But that lasts as long as each year’s budget. All of the moneys in the forward estimates can be taken away in next year’s budget. I am sure Mr Tanner and Mr Swan are right now looking for as many savings as they can possibly find to try to prevent the budget from going into deficit.

So there are no guarantees on that score and there are no guarantees in relation to these moneys—the $2 billion here and the $2.7 billion from the second tranche of T3—going to rural and regional telecommunications. All we have is a glib promise from the Labor Party to use $4.7 billion to roll out a national broadband network. Those of us who have been on the Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network are increasingly appreciating that that is not going to go any way towards ensuring broadband gets to rural and regional Australia. There is no commitment from the Labor Party on that score. All they can do is make glib assurances.

There are no requirements that any part of that money be used to ensure metro-equivalent services for rural and regional Australians. They have cancelled the OPEL contract, which was specifically to subsidise rural and regional Australians to acquire high-speed broadband. No such guarantees exist at all in relation to the $4.7 billion. The government quite glibly says that there will be no cost-benefit analysis of the expenditure of this $4.7 billion, unlike other expenditure from the Building Australia Fund. This will just be spent on whichever proponent comes out of this extraordinary process. As Telstra has already said, you cannot roll this out beyond metropolitan Australia with $4.7 billion.

I say to the Senate: do not trust Labor on this. Respect the needs of rural and regional Australians. Respect the fact that this parliament set up this Communications Fund specifically to provide that support for rural and regional Australia.