Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is quite extraordinary to listen to the opposition today when they talk about this plan as if it is some great, new, grand plan, when all it is is a rehash of Senator Conroy’s plan, which he put out last year and which nobody took any notice of. It is quite difficult to understand why they are taking notice of it this time when they did not last time. What this is really about, as much as broadband speeds, is Labor’s credibility. That is what this is about. It is not about broadband speeds to nearly the same extent.

Let us look at why that is so, because we are talking about an opposition that for years has put forward its point of view that we should never, ever privatise Telstra—not ever. Indeed, we only have to look at what Senator Conroy, the leader of this whole broadband charge, has said. On 9 August 2005 he said:

... the Labor Party will honour the commitment it made to the Australian public at the last election and oppose any move to privatise Telstra.

Obviously Senator Conroy has completely forgotten he said that in 2005, because he has done a complete about-face; he has turned around completely.