Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question, and I know that he has a particularly keen interest in his own electorate in getting the NBN rolled out quickly, cost-effectively and affordably. I can say that the most significant impact on the budget from the new approach to the NBN is that we are confronting the reality of the project. We are not in a sort of La-La Land of Conrovian economics, where you can believe that you can build things for half the cost it will really cost and you can believe that you can pass hundreds of thousands of premises with fibre but not offer any ability to connect. We are back in the real world and, since the election, we have got a plan to get the NBN back on track.

Since September, twice as many Australians are using the NBN—from 90,000 premises to 191,000 premises. We have increased the number of premises covered by the network by two-thirds, 65 per cent. In the built-up areas, the brownfield areas, we have tripled the number of premises connected, to 91,000 premises. Call us old-fashioned, but we are focused on actually getting paying customers on the network, because we have this old-fashioned view that you will not generate any revenue unless you have got customers and you will not generate any improvement in the broadband experience of Australians unless they are actually connected.

This is a critically important part of the budget repair process, because it is vital that we focus—unlike the opposition leader, who denied reality throughout his budget-in-reply speech—on the facts and get on with it. We have seen Conrovian economics from the very shy spokesman on broadband, the member for Blaxland. He may be the member for Blaxland, but he is no Paul Keating. He is really 'Young Jellyback,' he is so shy at asking questions. But, anyway, he has put out press releases saying that the NBN Co could borrow $43 billion without any government guarantee.

It is unfair to suggest that everybody in the Labor Party is a Conrovian because, as usual, the member for Fraser every now and then says something sensible. Only on 15 May, he said—

Dr Leigh interjecting—

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