Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We have so many other things to go you on, mate. The problem is you are too big a target and we cannot actually get enough guns out to hit every one of them, so we are just going for the bullseye. And, my god, has it worked. Had we not pared back—

Mr McCormack interjecting—

I have personal considerations. It does not mean that for one minute that I lack the commitment to this cause or that I lack the view that your side can be beaten. Each day that I am in here, the clearer I am that the great promise of the Prime Minister just simply has not materialised and, indeed, if anything, it is worse because we are absolutely rudderless. We have got this sort of A-lister steering the ship, but he does not want to get his hands dirty by putting his hands on the steering wheel, or maybe it is because he has people holding his hands and keeping them off the steering wheel.

Mr McCormack interjecting—

I have 3½ minutes to go. I will tell you about the—

Mr McCormack interjecting—

It is actually very germane to this big problem. We were waiting and seeing and then they got envious that Labor had actually got this right. Labor understood the 21st century and understood the future that was coming at us. But Malcolm Turnbull had to compromise and had to get this silly fibre to the node, based on the most inferior copper infrastructure. We talk about 'Turnbullistan'—the land of the great, bright, shiny high-velocity copper.

Mr McCormack interjecting—

No; Turnbullistan is the land of bright, shiny copper. I can tell you that in my electorate, in the member for Griffith's electorate and in the member for Cunningham's electorate the copper is anything but bright and shiny. It is falling apart and, when it rains, in certain streets near my office you cannot even get a voice call. And we are apparently going to be running 25 megs down that copper network that cannot even take a voice call when it rains.

I will conclude by going back to my first point. Do not come into this House and say, 'You had six years and this is what you did.' We started from ground zero. We had an idea, we prosecuted that idea, we got nbn co entrenched and we started that process. You came in and proceeded with the contracts that we had already let, but what you are doing now is putting in place a second-class piece of infrastructure that, within 10 years, will have to be replaced. It is a great tragedy.

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