Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications, Senator Fifield. Can the minister update the Senate on the rollout of the National Broadband Network?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Smith, for the question and for your deep interest in regional communications, in particular in Western Australia. I think all of us in this chamber would agree that the NBN is a very exciting project. We tend to talk an awful lot, though, in this place about the NBN as an end in itself rather than about what the NBN can achieve and is achieving for Australians—how it can improve job prospects for young people, how it can assist people in regional areas to stay in touch, how it can open businesses to the global marketplace and how it can make online transactions simpler for households. These are all good things that are happening now. It is because of what the NBN can deliver that, when we came into government, we decided that we would take a technology-agnostic approach, a multitechnology mix, letting NBN choose the technology that would see it rolled out fastest and at lowest cost, and that is exactly what is happening.

I am very pleased to be able to advise colleagues that the NBN hit a new milestone this week with fibre to the node connections overtaking brownfields fibre to the premise connections. We now have 1.1 million premises to fast broadband via fibre to the node. That has taken just over a year. Contrast that with Labor's technology—fibre to the premise—whereby it took more than five years to connect the same number of premises by fibre to the premise. So, the multitechnology mix is working—fibre to the node, fixed wireless, satellite, using the HFC pay TV cables. We are delivering the NBN. Australians want the NBN. They want it soon, and under this government, because of our approach, they will have the NBN six to eight years sooner than would have been the case under those opposite, and at $30 billion less cost.

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

Senator Smith, a supplementary question?

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister outline how these achievements contrast with the NBN rollout under the former, Labor, government?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Smith. I can, actually, provide a contrast with the approach of our predecessors. Colleagues may have forgotten that when we came into office in 2013 the NBN was in effect a failed project, that contractors had downed tools in four states and, despite about $6½ billion having been spent over the best part of five or so years by those opposite, that there were only 51,000 paying customers on the NBN. Also, those opposite could not even work out how much the NBN was costing to deliver. Those opposite thought that it cost between $2,200 and $2,500 per premise to deliver the NBN. When we came into office we found out that it was actually costing $4,400 per premise. The project was a failure. As of this week, we now have over 1½ million Australians who are on the NBN.

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

Senator Smith, a final supplementary question?

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister explain to the Senate how the coalition government is making the NBN as cost-effective to taxpayers as possible?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can. This government has said that there would be an equity cap of $29.5 billion, and that remains the case. This project was always going to be a mix of equity and debt, and we recently outlined what the debt funding arrangements will be.

I should point out that Senator Dastyari in Senate estimates the other day took a particular interest in the issues of debt and equity, and we explored those to some extent. I was wondering why Senator Dastyari had such an interest in Commonwealth debt issues. Then I thought, well, of course Senator Dastyari does: he had one of the most famous Commonwealth debts in Australian history. It was a relatively small debt, we know. And if the Commonwealth Department of Finance considered that they had equity in Senator Dastyari—I do not think so. But Senator Dastyari found a unique way to resolve that debt. What I wonder is whether the person who paid that debt thought they had equity. (Time expired)

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

Before I call the Attorney-General, I just want to particularly acknowledge that this will be the last time the Clerk will be in the chamber during question time. I am sure she is delighted that it is the last time with the level of noise today! But it is worth marking the occasion. I do note that we will have time later in the day to properly acknowledge the Clerk. I just wanted to make that mark. Thank you, Clerk.

Honourable senators: Hear, hear!

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

I ask that further questions be placed upon the Notice Paper.