Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Universities and Research) Share this | Hansard source

With over $40 billion of taxpayers' money at risk, I will just speak up. What we now face in this country dwarfs any previous infrastructure scheme in Australia's history by far, with tens of billions of dollars to be spent on a technology that is already becoming obsolete, doing something that for most part the private sector is ready to do at no cost to the taxpayer. Again, a brain snap: no planning, no cost-benefit analysis and no business case ever made. If the past is anything to go by, and with this government it sadly is, we can expect a few things. We can expect further budget blowouts. After all, the cost of this promise has already increased tenfold since first announced in 2007. We can also expect further delays. After all, the timeline for the rollout has already stretched from five to 10 years. And we can also expect a substandard product. We can expect the worst. That way at least you will never be disappointed by this Labor government.

Debate interrupted.