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

I again thank Senator Minchin for his question, because it was only a few weeks ago in this very chamber that Senator Minchin fell for the old three-card trick of quoting a misreport in a newspaper to claim it was a 13-year build. He took eight years and five years and added them together for a 13-year build. Those opposite may think this national broadband network is never going to be built, as they are indicating, but this is a commitment that the Rudd government made. We said it was a five-year build. We said it would reach 98 per cent of Australians. That is absolutely clearly stated in the RFP. Those are the objectives that they are tendering against.