Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. I refer the minister to the Treasurer’s comments this morning that Telstra and the G9 already have plans to build a national fibre-to-the-node broadband network and that government intervention is therefore not necessary. Can the minister confirm that Telstra have advised the Australian Stock Exchange that they will not be proceeding with the rollout of a fibre-to-the-node network? I ask whether the minister can also confirm that Telstra regulatory policy head, Phil Burgess, has stated:

The government needs to get its own policy house in order before there will be progress for all Australia on the FTTN talks.

Aren’t the major players making it clear that, unless the government changes, Australians will not get the broadband that they need?