Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

The senator has just misrepresented what the government actually said before the election. I accept and understand that the senator would have been handed the question and it would have been drafted by somebody else, but when she said that we made a commitment to cap the government's contribution at $29.5 billion that is false. If she refers to her own first question she will actually see that we said that we would cap the equity contribution at $29.5 billion. We remain committed to cap the equity contribution at $29.5 billion. What we have done is make a decision to provide a loan on commercial terms to the tune of $19.5 billion to NBN so it can complete the rollout. So the equity contribution by the government to NBN is capped at 29.5 per cent, 100 per cent consistent with the commitments and the statements that we have made all the way through.