House debates

Monday, 23 October 2017

Questions without Notice

Broadband

2:07 pm

Photo of Michelle RowlandMichelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Today the Prime Minister's hand-picked NBN CEO, Bill Morrow, said about the NBN:

It's too early to tell whether or not it's a success or a failure.

In the fifth year of the Prime Minister's mismanagement of his the second-rate copper NBN, when no-one else is to blame, is this really the best the government can do? Why isn't the Prime Minister doing anything to fix the problems that are plaguing the NBN on his watch?

Mr Albanese interjecting

Photo of Christopher PyneChristopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | | Hansard source

He's being constructive. He's being constructive right now.

Photo of Tony SmithTony Smith (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

The Leader of the House and the member for Grayndler will cease interjecting.

2:08 pm

Photo of Paul FletcherPaul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Urban Infrastructure) Share this | | Hansard source

I thank the shadow minister for the question, which I'm delighted to have the opportunity to answer. I think it is timely to remind ourselves how we got here. The Prime Minister has rightly spoken about the murky land of Conrovia. But there is another land where there was, briefly, responsibility for the NBN: the land of Albonia.

Photo of Tony SmithTony Smith (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

I caution the minister.

Photo of Paul FletcherPaul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Urban Infrastructure) Share this | | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler briefly had responsibility for the NBN. It was during that downfall phase of the Rudd government, which was like that scene in the bunker in the movie Downfall, when Kevin Rudd was bringing together his loyal band of supporters. He was handing out battlefield promotions and the member for Grayndler got responsibility for the NBN.

Photo of Tony SmithTony Smith (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler on a point of order?

Photo of Anthony AlbaneseAnthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | | Hansard source

None of us are from the land of nitwits. He's certainly not a wit.

Photo of Tony SmithTony Smith (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler is warned and will resume his seat. I'm discounting for provocation, that's true.

Photo of Paul FletcherPaul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Urban Infrastructure) Share this | | Hansard source

During his brief period as minister, as members would recollect from discussions in the House last week, in the four years between Kevin Rudd announcing the new NBN and Labor scuttling out of office, in the seat of Dobell the number of services on the fixed network in those four years went from zero to zero. Unsurprisingly, in his brief period as the minister, the member for Grayndler was asked some questions about how the Labor Party was administering the NBN. He said this in a press conference: 'You mightn't like the answer. We are rolling out the NBN as fast as it can be rolled out.' That's what he said: 'We are rolling out the NBN as fast as it can be rolled out.' Just a couple of months later they exited office with barely 50,000 premises able to connect. We now have well over six million premises able to connect and over two million that actually are connected. So when the shadow minister presumes to contrast this government's record of delivery of the NBN with Labor's shambolic and hopeless record, I say to her that we didn't want to start from where we did, but we have been getting on with the job, and over six million premises are now able to connect. That's very important.