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

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. I wonder if the minister was so dismissive of the Minister for Foreign Affairs when he raised this issue in the one meeting that the cabinet had on this matter. I ask the minister what assumption was made regarding the degree to which aerial cabling would be used in relation to the government’s cost estimate of $43 billion for its NBN mark 2. Does the minister agree with Optus that the estimated cost of the project—that is, $43 billion—will mean at least 70 per cent aerial deployment nationwide?