Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Labor Party have been the biggest impediment to broadband availability in Australia. They spent six years talking up the supposed reforms, but for all their rhetoric they have failed to deliver. With the Australian Labor Party we know that once you issue the press release you can forget about delivery—issuing the press release is the focus; they think the job is done. The strategic review confirms that the project was going to cost $29 billion more than Senator Conroy ever admitted and would have taken until 2024 to complete. We have the situation where we have 1.5 million Australians who have no or inadequate broadband services, and that number barely changed during the period of the former government. In fact, it would be fair to say that never before has so much been spent on so little for so few. The coalition will prioritise those areas which need upgrades the most. We have seen time and time again the results of governing by press release, but I think it is important to listen to the words of Mr Quigley, the former chief executive of NBN, who, when asked if there were things he would have done differently, said:

You do think, should I have been more conservative? But the timescales are already set for you, the time frames are already put out there for you so there's not much you can do.

We are not going to require the hardworking staff of the NBN to defend the indefensible any longer.