Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

It always worries me when Senator Abetz is taking notes. But we need to get on with the structural separation of Telstra, because Telstra should never have been structured in the way that it was following the privatisation. It has been bad for Australian telecommunications and it has been bad for consumers. But provided that there is an adequate level of scrutiny in the context of ensuring a competition framework and transparency for the structural separation—and I believe that an adequate degree of scrutiny by the Productivity Commission is also important—then I think that this bill can proceed.

However, I will say to the government—and the minister knows my views on this, and I think I have a pretty good working relationship with Senator Conroy—that the minister is making it difficult for those who are supporters of the NBN to support this legislation, given that there has been a lack of information in relation to it. But I still see them as parallel but distinct issues. We should not hold up the structural separation if we can have a framework in place that is adequate in terms of protecting consumers and protecting the public interest. I will not support this motion moved by Senator Abetz, but I think it does highlight the inadequacy of information—the dial-up level of information—we have received from the government.