Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are talking about the national broadband network and information for the tender. To put it in perspective for Australians: this is as significant as the building of the Snowy. This is significant, just as it was to send a man to the moon. This network for Australia is something that we are going to live with for 20, 30 or 40 years. It is like the old telephone system that we have got by on until now. This is a huge piece of public infrastructure—$4.7 billion is being set aside for it. It is of national importance. It is important for this country and it is a decision that should not be rushed.

I have sat in this place for the last couple of years hearing how bad the coalition was at rushing things through, and guess what? It was bad. Now, at the first turn, we are potentially going to see a rushing through of a tender of $4.7 billion of government money that is a significant project—as I said, as significant as the Snowy was for Australia. This is a significant project, and I am concerned that the tender process may not be making sure that everybody who wants to bid has a fair go. Australia is a country where we need to make sure that we protect the notion of a fair go, especially with such a nation-building project as the national broadband network.

It is interesting to hear Senator Boswell from the Nationals starting to whinge and complain. I never heard those same whinges when the coalition rushed things through in the last couple of years. The fact is: the Nationals sold out the bush when they sold Telstra, so to have them complaining today about rushing things through and talking about looking after and protecting ordinary Australians in rural and regional areas is outrageous.

I appeal to the government to extend the tender. I am looking for an extension of time for the tender to make sure that anyone who wants to tender for the national broadband network has the necessary information to put a fair dinkum tender in, because this project is too important to be rushed. It is too important not to make sure that people have enough information to put in a fair dinkum bid. I will also be looking at the regulatory areas to make sure that consumers, ordinary Australians, are not going to be ripped off down the line because the national broadband network is a monopoly network. There is no use building two of them, so obviously it has to be a monopoly—it would be a waste of money building two of them. Given that it will be a major piece of infrastructure—it is the backbone; it is huge and everybody will to have use it—we need to make sure we have got the right regulatory conditions around it with the ACCC looking at the pricing, and we will be looking at that as we move forward.

I want to place on the table today that Family First wants an extension to the tender process to make sure that, once people have got this information, they can put in a fair dinkum bid to make sure that we get the best price infrastructure and the best infrastructure for this nation for the next 20, 30 or 40 years.