Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Again we hear the fallacy from the now government—we used to hear it when they were in opposition—that when we were in government we had 19 failed plans. The fact is: technology is a changing beast and, whenever there was an upgrade, of course we upgraded our plans; we changed the plans. And I very well remember, back in 2007, this government, when they were in opposition, promising 99 per cent coverage for $4.7 billion. We said that was not possible. We knew it was not possible. But they said, 'Oh yes, we're going to achieve it all for $4.7 billion.' Well, we are about nine times that now, and my guess is that this is going to increase a lot more. That is an educated guess, from experience in dealing with Labor governments in the past; they always blow out, just like their budgets. Even if we accept the figures of the Labor government, it is still going to cost $2,000 for every man, woman and child in Australia.

I noted that the member for Chifley in his contribution talked a lot about the jobs and skills being created locally. That certainly does not show up in the national employment figures because in 2011, for the first time in 20 years, we had no jobs growth. And, as nothing has actually happened in Barker—an electorate which is bigger than Tasmania—there are no jobs at all.

He also referred to the download base increasing by 25 to 35 per cent. That may be the case. But guess how it is mostly being achieved now. It is through wireless. If you go to anyone in this parliament, just about everyone has an iPad and a phone. And guess where they get their downloads from: from wireless—not from the NBN program. In fact, people are choosing, five to one, wireless, and it is not because of cost; it is actually because of convenience and flexibility. You do not have to be plugged into a certain spot. You can go wherever you like, provided there is coverage.

I remember—and I am sure the member for Mallee would remember—that we actually had a program; we had signed contracts, which this government, when they came in, welshed on. And that was a contract with OPEL which was actually going to cover 98 per cent with superfast broadband.

So for that reason I stand here this evening to speak on the review of the rollout of the National Broadband Network. And, given the discussion this evening surrounding the progress of the NBN, I thought it would be fitting to give the House an update on the NBN's progress in my electorate of Barker. The rollout is way behind schedule. In the second half of 2011, the NBN's fibre network was not extended to a single household—not one single household. In fact, only 4,000 households across Australia have received broadband over the NBN. And, sadly for the people of Barker, there is no progress at all in the seat of Barker. A look at the rollout map on the NBN Co website shows there are no services currently available, no construction underway, and no sites earmarked for construction in the next 12 months. So every constituent in my seat—in fact it is more than constituents; every man, woman and child is paying $2,000 for nothing. So, after four years in office, this government's record on broadband is certainly disastrous not only for my seat of Barker but also for Australia. It is a huge cost that just does not bear any cost-benefit analysis.

The rollout is behind schedule, we all know that. There has been a whole swag of rorting, overspending and misconceptions by the Gillard government. On 1 November last year, I told the House about rorting occurring in the Barossa region of Barker. Barossa couple, Denise and Richard Mahlo, were asked by an affiliate of housing developer Hickinbottom to pay $995 for wiring to ensure that their new home would be NBN compatible. The Mahlos were told that if they did not pay the $995 they would have to sign a disclaimer warning of long-term consequences. A spokesperson from NBN Co. confirmed to the Australian newspaper:

... the Nuriootpa estate was 'not an NBN development', meaning 'we are not installing nor have been asked to install the fibre there'…

Yet the rort of trying to get $995 out of the Mahlos was happening. I called on the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Conroy, to come clean about the hidden costs and rorting within the NBN. It is staggering to think that the NBN is now forecast to cost at least $50 billion. As I said earlier, that is 10 times the original budget that the Labor Party went to the 2010 election with. No other country is spending as much public money on broadband. Even their saint, Obama, the one they think is so fantastic, is going with wireless. He is not talking about this NBN suggestion.

In January of this year, Mr Deputy Speaker Symon—and may I congratulate you on your elevation to the position; I am not sure whether he heard that but I am sure if he reads the Hansardhe will know—I wrote in the Border Watchnewspaper, which is a large country newspaper in Mount Gambier, about the super-spending sprees of NBN Co. I was truly astonished to find out that the NBN Co had spent a whopping $108,000 on the launch party in South Australia. It is hard to imagine what one would spend $108,000 on just for one launch party. But it was not only the South Australian launch that racked up the NBN credit card bill. Launch parties were held around the country for similar gobsmacking amounts—reportedly, $138,000 was spent in the electorate of the Independent Tony Windsor and $90,000 in Townsville. The list goes on, with disgusting amounts of money being spent on these launches. This comes after Senate estimates hearings revealed that 27 people were employed just in public relations at NBN Co. So between 27 public relations people they cannot plan cost-effective launch parties around Australia. That is truly astonishing. If we as politicians did that and used taxpayers' money, I think we would be rightly on the front page for weeks on end.

On top of that, more than $800,000 was paid to the company Weber Shandwick for a six-month contract to develop and implement a communications strategy. Oh, we have to have that communications strategy! It was also revealed that 144 of the NBN staff have a corporate credit card. Well, we all know what credit cards can do. The whole program is just out of control. I question what exactly NBN is doing with the 1,000 staff. That sure is a lot of people to run a program that is hardly off the ground.

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