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

It is clear that Mr Abbott is well aware of the Australian public's support for our world-class NBN. His own backbenchers have told them so, and they continue to write to me demanding that their communities get connected sooner. So, whilst Mr Abbott is now saying one thing to the residents of Mount Isa about the virtues of a fibre rollout, Mr Turnbull was deriding the NBN as science fiction at the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network conference in Sydney recently. My fear for the people of Mount Isa and other regional communities around Australia is that Mr Abbott is simply telling them what they want to hear—that he supports the NBN—when really he wants to demolish it and treat them as second-class citizens. He wants to give vouchers—vouchers is what your side is up to. What a disgrace! (Time expired)