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

I know the clock is running. I know that Senator Ludlam wants to make a contribution on this, so I will have to be briefer than I would like to be to give respect to Senator Birmingham’s motion on this issue. I cannot support this amendment. I do believe the Productivity Commission has a role to play in this. The agreement reached with the Prime Minister allows for the Productivity Commission to give continual advice over an eight-year period to this committee about its implementation. Senator Birmingham, I think we will have to revisit this. This is a very tough amendment for me. I believe that, on balance, that is the best way to go forward. I think the government will confirm, if not in the next three minutes, issues of members being able to participate.

It is important to acknowledge that the Productivity Commission will have a valuable role in this whole process and one of monitoring. If the Productivity Commission merely provides a report, the risk is that it can be ignored, as Labor and Liberal governments have both ignored reports of the Productivity Commission. This is about implementation. This is about ensuring some ongoing accountability. The government knows and the opposition knows that, when the NBN bills come up in February and March, I have absolutely reserved my position on them. That is where I am at. We do need to split Telstra. We do need to have a structural separation, but the question of the NBN and that legislation is still up for grabs.