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

I thank Senator Minchin for his renewed interest in the national broadband network. Those opposite have spent many months attempting to downplay the importance of the national broadband network. It is back to the future. Senator Minchin has decided that he does not want to do any hard policy work on the national broadband network. What he wants to do is go back to the easy road of just readopting the Howard government’s failed policy agenda. What the Rudd Labor government has been doing is systematically and methodically moving to implement Labor’s national broadband network election promise.

We have gathered the information necessary. That required legislation. We have issued a request for proposals so that we are able to have a truly competitive process—a truly competitive process which those opposite just are embarrassed by because of the many attempts that they made: 18 failed broadband plans in 11½ years. The Rudd government is systematically moving to deliver its national broadband plan.