Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Finance, Senator Cormann. I refer to the minister, who, when asked in May whether the government was open to the possibility of more equity funding for the NBN, said:

No. The equity cap that is in place is $29.5 billion, and our planning is for nbn to source the remaining funding requirements by raising debt from external markets. We have outlined that very clearly. We believe and are confident that that will be able to be achieved.

Isn't the market's rejection of your plan to source private debt a vote of no confidence in Mr Turnbull's second-rate copper dominated NBN?

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

The answer to the last question is no. Under the Turnbull government, the NBN is going from strength to strength. The NBN is meeting all of its rollout targets and all of its various other targets. In fact, it is exceeding all of its various key targets over the past two years. I stand by what I said in May when I said the equity cap would remain at $29.5 billion, because that is of course precisely where it remains. It is true that our plan was for NBN to source the remaining funding requirement on external markets by sourcing private sector debt. But when we assessed all of the information, when we assessed all of the analysis, and when we took into account the indicative credit rating that NBN was able to achieve, it became apparent that the best deal for taxpayers, in pursuit of our commitment to deliver the NBN faster and more affordably for taxpayers than would have happened under Labor, was for the government to provide a loan on commercial terms to NBN. And that is, of course, the announcement that we have made. The announcement is there for all to see. It is self-explanatory: $19.5 billion. The government will be receiving interest, of course. The debt will be fully refinanced by 2020-21. Essentially, it is there for all to see—open and transparent. It was the best possible deal for taxpayers and it also makes sure that NBN now has the certainty to focus on finalising the rollout so that the NBN will be delivered in full, much more cheaply than would have been the case under Labor.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Kitching, a supplementary question.

Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given that the minister committed to capping the government's contribution to the NBN at $29.5 billion only days before the July election was called, when did it first become clear to the minister that the market was not going to provide access to private debt on acceptable terms?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to 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.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Kitching, a final supplementary question.

Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I refer to the minister, whose media release of 18 November 2016 was titled 'Government loan secures NBN rollout'. Shouldn't the title read instead 'Government bails out Mr Turnbull's NBN'?

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

It is all very droll. I know that the Labor Party hates the fact that the Turnbull government is delivering the NBN project, which was a complete mess under Labor. It started under Labor on the back of a beer coaster. I would have liked to have been on that plane with the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the then communications minister, Stephen Conroy. We all know how much they loved each other. We all know how much they enjoyed sharing a drink together. They would have been sitting there saying, 'What do we do with this beer coaster? Let's write up a plan to build a NBN.' Of course, it was not funded. It was a complete mess.

The former minister for communications went to Darwin five times to launch five connections. For every single connection he took a trip up to Darwin to announce it. So excited was he when he was able to make a little bit of progress. The truth is that under the Turnbull government the NBN is being delivered. It is being delivered at a lower cost, faster and more effectively than it ever would have been under the Labor Party. You are embarrassed by it. (Time expired).

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(—) (): I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.