Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, the question that needs to be answered in this committee stage in relation to this amendment is: why do you think it is reasonable, after all of your protestations along the way that this would be a wholesale only network, to provide that scope, to provide that window, to provide that opportunity for this mission creep to occur? What is wrong with closing that window off? What is wrong with ensuring that NBN Co. wholly, solely sells services to companies who have an intention of being retailers and on-selling those services? What is wrong with that occurring given your stated mission that this be a wholesale-only provider? Why would you want to provide that opportunity? Why would you want to risk it?

Minister, you have railed for many, many years against Telstra and the vertically integrated monopoly they had. You got the legislation through at the end of last year that in theory will see Telstra broken down, that will see that separation take place. The opposition acknowledged during that debate—Mr Turnbull has acknowledged many times—the importance of that separation. But why would you want to leave the slightest glimmer of possibility that the same mistakes of public policy will happen again? Why would you want to leave the slightest chance that the same thing could happen again? Why, Minister, would you not support a far, far tighter definition, as the opposition is proposing? The opposition is proposing a very clear, very detailed amendment—