Russell Trood (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Coonan. I preface my question by noting that when the Howard government delivered its 12th budget this week it did so with a $10.6 billion surplus, the 10th such surplus in a row. In this context, will the minister outline to the Senate policies designed to maintain this economic growth and ensure continuing jobs and opportunity for all Australians? Will the minister also outline any alternative policies that might threaten Australia’s record prosperity?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to Senator Trood for the question and his strong commitment to jobs and opportunities for the people of Queensland. The Australian economy does continue to grow, with the longest period of expansion ever recorded, and of course the strong budget delivered by the Treasurer this week will help to lock in Australia’s long-term economic growth and prosperity. But all areas of government are responsible for building for the future, and a key economic driver in my portfolio is broadband.

Broadband is a critical technology to equip Australian business for the new economy and global markets made possible by rapid telecommunications. As the Senate knows, there are two commercial proposals on the table for a fibre high-speed broadband network in Australia: one by Telstra and one by a consortium of other telecommunications providers, the G9. Importantly, both proposals are commercial and fully costed, and Telstra and the G9 have now taken out full-page advertisements this week telling the world they do not need any taxpayers’ funds to build their fibre broadband network. So there is no debate about whether Australia can or should have a new high-speed broadband network; we will. The question is how we do it and what commercial incentives are needed to get the network build underway.

Labor has a plan to waste $5 billion of taxpayers’ money on a project that the industry will fund itself and takes out an ad to tell you it will. This is where we differ vastly from the Labor Party. Tonight Mr Rudd will no doubt ask the Australian people to trust him to run our trillion dollar economy when he delivers his speech in reply to the budget. But Labor’s broadband plan is a perfect illustration of the serious risk to the Australian economy if Labor ever got hold of the nation’s finances again. If Mr Rudd cannot see that he is wasting $5 billion on a fibre network that commercial enterprise will build on its own, then every taxpayer must ask: how can Labor possibly manage Australia’s trillion dollar economy?

The commercial companies vying to build a new broadband network—all 10 of them—have told me and told Labor, and now every newspaper reader across Australia this week, that they do not need taxpayers’ money to deliver this network. Telstra says Telstra needs no money from Canberra to build a world-leading broadband network—there it is. The G9 says the G9 plan does not require taxpayers’ funds—there it is. It will be independently financed. Mr Rudd might be very cocky about winning the election—we know he is very cocky—but he needs to get a much better grip on what needs taxpayer funding and what does not.

So here is the point: if someone offers to build a broadband network at no cost to taxpayers, would you really say, ‘No, I’ve just raided the Future Fund and emptied the Communications Fund, so have $5 billion anyway’? Mr Rudd’s proposal is a wanton waste of taxpayers’ money. It is beyond economic management. It is grossly negligent. Labor’s taxpayer plan smacks of economic inexperience and it proves beyond any doubt that Mr Rudd simply cannot be trusted to manage the Australian economy.

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.