Mr ALBANESE (Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) (5:24 PM) —The government does not support this motion. While I was listening to the member for Wentworth address this motion, my mind went back to when I was the shadow minister for water and the member for Wentworth was the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources. In an address one January, the then Prime Minister announced $10 billion, done on the back of a serviette, for a national water plan which not only did not go to the Productivity Commission or the Public Works Committee; it did not even go to cabinet, it did not go to Treasury and it did not go to Finance. There were no costings—nothing, zip, absolutely nothing.

Mr Husic —How much?

Mr ALBANESE —Ten billion dollars. So the member for Wentworth comes to this issue with a bit of form. He also has form in trying to undertake his task—which he was assigned by the Leader of the Opposition—to ‘demolish’ the NBN. That is the task that he was given. This motion today is another opposition tactic to delay the NBN rollout.

The regulations in place are an interim measure until the bill is passed. Without the proposed exemption, NBN Co. would breach the Public Works Committee Act and be liable for potential criminal penalties if it commenced a public work with an estimated cost above $15 million before a long series of processes had concluded—a referral to the PWC, examination and report by the PWC and agreement by the House that the work could proceed. The process of referral to the committee would have a high compliance cost and inhibit NBN Co.’s flexibility. The exemption reflects the fact that NBN Co. operates in commercial markets and will roll out networks in response to market conditions. This is why a similar exemption has been granted to Australia Post and why exemptions were previously granted to Commonwealth owned carriers such as Telstra, AUSSAT and the Australian and Overseas Telecommunications Corporation—all with bipartisan support, supported by both sides of this chamber as a common-sense approach to what is necessary for a government owned entity.

NBN Co. will remain subject to full parliamentary oversight. The Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network produced five reports. NBN Co. appears at Senate estimates three times a year. There have been hundreds of answers to questions on notice. We have a House of Representatives committee and, immediately after this debate, there will be a motion proposed to establish a joint committee on the NBN. Both will provide additional transparency and oversight of the NBN. Furthermore, NBN Co.’s annual report is tabled in parliament.

The motion moved by the member for Wentworth today is designed simply to delay and destroy the rollout of the NBN, to the detriment of end users. That is why it should not be supported. The fact is that we have released already a large amount of material on the NBN: the summary of the expert panel report, tabled 23 October 2009; the McKinsey-KPMG implementation study, with comprehensive financial analysis, released on 6 May 2010; NBN Co.’s 2009-10 annual report, tabled 29 October 2010; and the NBN Co. corporate plan, statement of expectations and ACCC advice on points of interconnect, released on 20 December 2010. There has been significant involvement by the parliament and the community for many years. Now we have two parliamentary committees to scrutinise the NBN, the proposed joint standing committee as well as the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications.

Quite clearly, this motion moved by the member for Wentworth will only have a delaying impact. That is why it is being moved. The fact is that it is totally inconsistent with the attitude the coalition had over many, many years with regard to other instrumentalities, such as Australia Post, Telstra, AUSSAT and the Australian and Overseas Telecommunications Corporation. It is about time that the opposition stopped playing these political games under the guise of wanting transparency and acknowledged the inconsistency of their approach.

If they were fair dinkum, the motion moved by the member for Wentworth would include, for example, Australia Post now. He is the shadow minister for communications and I do not see that occurring. The fact is that this is simply yet another step in the tactic to delay the NBN rollout. It is something that the government will not support because the government is determined to bring communications in Australia into the 21st century and make us a more competitive, more productive economy. I urge members to oppose this motion.