Mary Fisher (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also to the Minister for Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Conroy, in respect of his proposal to spend billions of taxpayer funds on the National Broadband Network, ongoing uncertainty about the cost of the NBN and the implication that this will have for Labor’s massive borrowing and Labor’s massive debt. I refer to the minister’s statement to the Press Club in March 2007, when he said:

… there is a cost to the individual, because when you connect fibre to the home, you’ve got to have a sort of box to receive the fibre to the home, which can be up to $1,000 at the moment …

Minister, do your kicking-the-tyre cost estimates—

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Fisher, you are entitled to be heard in silence. Some of your colleagues could not hear the question and would like it repeated. This is an important part of question time. People are entitled to hear the question during question time. Extraneous interjections do not help the conduct of question time. I believe—and I have been reasonably fair on this—that people should be heard in silence when the question is being asked. I think that is one of the things which we need to pay closer attention to in this chamber. Senator Fisher, I understand your question has not been fully heard and I ask you to ask it again. Those on my right, refrain from interjections.

Mary Fisher (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. I am sure the minister is well aware of his quote at the Press Club so I shall not repeat it. Minister, the question is: do your kicking-the-tyre cost estimates for the NBN include costs to individuals for these sorts of boxes?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is disappointing that you clearly have not read the entire speech—I can only encourage you to—because you would have seen that I was actually not referring to the equipment that would be put into individuals’ homes; what I was describing was the boxes on the end of the big, fat pipes. That is technical jargon, for those over there! So I was not actually referring to that equipment, but I am happy to answer questions about the pricing.

The government recognises that affordability is an important factor that will drive take-up of services on the NBN. NBN prices cannot be structured without considering the prices people pay today for comparable services. Pricing levels on the National Broadband Network will be a key issue considered in the implementation study, but let me take this opportunity to dispel a few myths. First, the NBN is a historic microeconomic reform. It is Australia’s first national wholesale-only open access network. It is important to remind those opposite of this because they shirked the tough decisions on this for 12 years and privatised Telstra without ever properly resolving it.

How does this relate to retail prices for consumers? No retail company will be able to control the network in its own interests. The discipline of genuine competitive pressure will drive lower prices, innovation and greater choice of services at price points. Retail companies—

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order going to relevance—and direct relevance, as the standing orders now require. I am sure you will point out to the minister that he has just 12 seconds left to answer. He was asked a very direct question as to whether the $1,000 costs for connection were included. I ask you to get the minister to answer that direct question and be directly relevant in the 12 seconds that remain.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, on the point of order: I appreciate that Senator Birmingham has now redefined the question that was asked by the good senator behind him, but in actual fact that was not the question at all. I have been directly relevant in dealing with the pricing that individuals will face. I am addressing that specific issue.

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, you completely misunderstand the question.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have totally misunderstood what a box on the end of the pipe is. I do not know how much more simply I can put it for you, Senator Minchin.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Conroy, this is not a debating time. On Senator Birmingham’s point of order, there are 12 seconds left. I draw your attention to the question that was asked by Senator Fisher. You have 12 seconds in which to answer the question.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you. As I was saying, retail companies will likely offer a range of plans and price points to suit the needs of different individuals and businesses. Companies will have to fight hard to win and retain your business, or else you can switch. (Time expired)

Mary Fisher (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Will the minister confirm that Labor’s massive borrowing and increasing debt to fund the multibillion-dollar taxpayer spend on the NBN is to install these sorts of boxes for households that might never want them and indeed never, ever be able to afford them?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Again, the reference that the good senator is drawing from my speech was not actually talking about the equipment that is to be installed in the home. My quote was not actually referring to that. But, to deal with the question I think you are trying to ask, the pricing involved in the National Broadband Network includes all of the relevant equipment necessary. Whether or not an individual chooses to install the connection and have it connected will be a function of whether the individual would like to have it. The Labor Party takes the view that this is an essential utility in the same way that the telephone, gas, electricity and water are, so we will provide the connection. It is then entirely in consumers’ hands whether they choose to take the next step. (Time expired)

Mary Fisher (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. What additional price will consumers have to pay for internal wiring to access fibre to the home? When, Minister, will you be up front with Australian consumers about what they will have to spend to access fibre to the home above and beyond their already massive taxpayer spend?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I guess that I will have to explain to those opposite the difference between a wholesale and a retail company. Notwithstanding that those opposite have continued to claim we are going to need five million customers to make it pay, I do not believe this NBN Co. will ever ultimately have more than about 500 customers, because that is about how many ISPs there are in the country. The marketplace and the ISPs will engage in price competition to attract customers, and therefore that will be part of the package ultimately to be charged, but that will be a matter for the retail providers, not the wholesale company, for which we will be providing the connection. Think of it as if it were a phone. When you have the phone installed, you seek to get it connected; there is a connection fee, and that is charged by— (Time expired)