Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I have seen those claims by Senator Minchin. They are incorrect and grossly irresponsible. The conditions precedent of the funding agreement signed by the former government, signed by Senator Helen Coonan, required OPEL to provide coverage reasonably equivalent to 90 per cent of 527,747 underserved premises. In other words, OPEL was required to cover approximately five per cent of Australian premises identified as underserved. OPEL’s coverage would have been far less than the 99 per cent figure claimed by Senator Minchin. In any event, the assessment showed that OPEL failed to demonstrate that it was able to meet its required coverage. By calling for OPEL— (Time expired)