Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, it was a magic pudding. A contract was struck with Silcar. We do not know what it says; it is completely secret; it is commercial-in-confidence; but we have to trust this government that the contract with Silcar has not exposed taxpayers or the Australian government to increased risk of cost overruns. We do not know what risks we have bought for this contract with Silcar, but I think it is a pretty fair bet that we cannot trust this government. I think it is a pretty fair bet and it is of great concern. Yes, we want high-speed broadband; but we want it done in a timely way and we want it done within a reasonable budget. A $50 billion budget, which is going north, is not reasonable, is not sustainable and is of great concern.

Another concern is the fact that this project is not targeting the worst areas first, and that is a most important thing. It would be common sense to look at those areas where broadband is most deficient and start attacking them immediately. But what do we do? We have a largely politically motivated rollout that picked the eyes out of the politically appropriate sites and have a duplication of services where broadband is already adequate—we actually pay taxpayers' money; we pay Telstra and we pay Opel for nothing more than not to compete with the NBN. Now, if this project were so incredibly superior, as the government would make out, would you not think that market forces would drive people to rush in hordes to the NBN? They would be like barbarians at the gate, trying to get in and get connected. But what happens? We saw in Armidale a take-up rate of two per cent!

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