Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Conroy. I refer the minister to the letter from the NBN Co. CEO, Mr Mike Quigley, to the minister and Senator Wong, dated last Friday, which states that the NBN ‘can be built in a way that provides an internal rate of return higher than the current long-term government bond rate’. Can the minister confirm whether the NBN will make a return at or above the commercial cost of capital for the NBN?

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

I thank Senator Joyce for his ongoing interest in this issue, particularly the Page Foundation where he endorsed and supported a fibre-to-the-home network, and I look forward to his many more questions. The NBN Co. has finalised, as I have already said, its three-year corporate plan and a 30-year business plan. The company did submit, as I have said, the plan to government on 8 November. The government is committed to releasing as much information as possible from the business plan. The business plan contains material, as Mr Quigley has advised, which is highly sensitive and commercial-in-confidence. Certain information may be of a commercial significance in a number of competitive procurement processes which NBN Co. currently has underway and those which may be conducted during the life of the project. This includes the commercial—

Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise a point of order on relevance. He is giving a whole palaver, but this is very specific: can the minister confirm whether the NBN will make a return at or above a commercial cost of capital? That is not giving away details. He either can or he cannot.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister has two minutes in which to answer the question. The minister is currently 57 seconds into answering the question. I draw the minister’s attention to the question.

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

Thank you, Mr President. And this includes the commercial negotiations of definitive agreements with Telstra. It would be utterly irresponsible to release this information. The sensitive nature of the business plan was further confirmed by Mr Quigley last week in his letter, and his letter was very, very specific. I am happy to point out and read to the chamber what Mr Quigley said. His letter outlines that the peak equity requirement of the project approximates that predicted by the implementation study. The total capital expenditure is substantially lower than predicted by the implementation study—noting that the plan is based on significantly different assumptions, including a deal with Telstra and independent advice based on borrowing capacity. The NBN Co. has assumed a uniform national wholesale price for its basic service offering of 12 meg downstream and one meg up. And NBN Co.’s business plan projects that prices will be reduced— (Time expired)

Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Seeing as he was unable to answer that question, I have to further ask: what take-up rate of broadband services does the NBN business plan assume to deliver the expected rates of return—which he does not have a clue about? What growth in fixed-line broadband services is required to meet this take-up rate?

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

Thank you, Senator Joyce, for those questions, because all of that information will be included when we release the documents so that people can analyse these things. But we do not intend to release this document until the cabinet has had a chance to consider it, until the ACCC has supplied some critical decision recommendations to the cabinet and final decisions are made. And Mr Quigley makes all of these points in his letter.

I note that those opposite continue to pretend—particularly Senator Joyce, who pretends that he is interested in the information he has just asked about, when he revealed his true colours last week when he said that he is not interested in this; this is about demolishing the NBN, because demolishing the NBN will demolish the government.

Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question.

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Wait a minute, Senator Joyce; you are entitled to be heard in silence.

Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr President. I love the way he thanks me for the questions but never gives the answers! If the minister struggles—and in some instances is completely clueless—with the most basic of questions, how can his colleagues, who were answering most of his questions yesterday, or the markets or the Australian public have any confidence in him whatsoever?

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

I know Hansard will not have seen you shake your head there, Mr President, but clearly—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Conroy, all I am saying to you is—

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

it is a rhetorical question with no basis of fact in it whatsoever. What needs to be understood is that it is just like Mr Abbott said when he appointed Mr Turnbull: ‘Go out and demolish it.’ And Senator Joyce is right up there in this game. He is not interested. Those opposite are not interested. They want to wreck the NBN. They do not want people in Willunga to get genuine fast broadband. They do not want people in Townsville to get fast broadband. They do not want people in Armidale to get fast broadband. They do not want people in Brunswick to get fast broadband, and they do not want people in Kiama Downs to get fast broadband, because that is where it is being rolled out—just like in Tasmania. You want to pretend to those people in Tasmania that you can keep the network— (Time expired)