Senator CONROY (Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Digital Productivity) (11:37 AM) —The government will be supporting Senator Xenophon’s amendments. Senator Xenophon has proposed an amendment which removes the scope for price discrimination by NBN Co. Senator Xenophon has indicated a willingness to monitor the effects of this removal to ensure that the scope for appropriate innovation by retail service providers is not unduly constrained. The government will work with him and other interested senators to that end as the NBN Co. develops its commercial arrangements over coming months.

The government, as I indicated, has agreed to Senator Xenophon’s amendment on price discrimination on the understanding that he will otherwise support looking into the matter, which we think is a very reasonable compromise, Senator Xenophon, and you should be congratulated on it. We look forward to the outcome of those discussions.