Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Conroy. I refer the minister to the statement by NBN Co. CEO, Mike Quigley, to Senate estimates two weeks ago:

In October we were forecasting just under 300,000 premises passed; we are now forecasting almost exactly the target of 286,000.

Will the minister inform the Senate of the latest advice he has received from NBN Co. regarding the number of brownfields premises to be passed by fibre and able to be connected by 30 June this year? Has the minister received any information that differs from Mr Quigley's latest forecast of 286,000 premises?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am aware of a variety of claims from Senator Birmingham and the member for Wentworth that the NBN Co. are misrepresenting network rollout figures by changing their definitions, all of those sorts of things. These claims are wrong.

Mr Quigley gave a presentation—I think it was last Friday at the American Chamber of Commerce—at which he put up on the screen exactly the same graph which he had tabled at both the last estimates and the one before. For those who are trying to play this game of claiming that the rollout is behind, I simply go back to one very simple point. In February-March last year, the NBN Co. said that they would be able to complete construction in 758,000 homes. Mr Turnbull went on television and said, 'That would be extraordinary. You would have to admire them greatly if they were to achieve that.' By the end of the year, when we produced the December outcome, the NBN Co. had exceeded its construction targets. Did those opposite take the opportunity to live up to their word?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, Mr President: the question asked of the minister was a very straightforward and direct question. It was whether he would inform the Senate of the latest advice he has received from NBN Co. regarding the number of premises to be passed and whether he has received any information which differs from Mr Quigley's latest forecast of 286,000 premises. The minister has not gone anywhere near answering the question about the most recent advice he has received from NBN Co. as the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. I ask you to direct the minister to the particulars of the question and to be directly relevant to it.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I believe the minister is being directly relevant to the question.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier this month, despite the constant negativity of those opposite—

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'Relentless'.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Despite the relentless negativity of those opposite, Senator Lundy and the member for Fraser joined me in switching on the NBN for another 4,000 premises in Gungahlin. This is in addition to switch-ons for over 6,200 premises— (Time expired)

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I refer the minister to the current monthly ready-for-service update on the NBN Co. website which states that NBN Co. will in June alone add more than 130,000 premises of its 286,000 target. Given that 19 months of construction in SA, WA and the NT have seen no premises at all yet activated, can the minister confirm that NBN Co. is on track to finalise 45 per cent of its 30 June target in the last possible month?

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As Senator Birmingham knows, we debated this long and hard at Senate estimates and Mr Quigley explained the concept of a ramp-up. He provided a graph which shows that we are actually meeting our construction targets. The next publication will be of the March figures. We will then be able to judge how we are going in meeting our targets. But even the Liberal-National Party candidate for Lilley turned up just last week in Aspley to support and welcome the turning on of the first Brisbane customers of the National Broadband Network. Even the Liberal-National Party candidate turned up to say, 'Ya-hay, this is a great day for the people of Brisbane!' (Time expired)

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Noting that the minister, in response to both the primary question and the first supplementary, has failed to confirm that the latest advice to him is that 286,000 premises will be passed and ready for connection by 30 June this year, I again ask the minister if he will confirm and stand by that target of 286,000 premises as being the most recent and up-to-date advice he has received from NBN Co.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand by Mr Quigley's testimony in estimates, I stand by the graph he put forward on Friday and I look forward, like everybody, to the publication of the March statistics. It is not quite March yet, but you do not have to wait long for the March quarter statistics to become available. Mr Quigley stated publicly that we are facing challenges in ramping up in Western Australia. That is on the public record—that Syntheo are having trouble ramping up as fast as had been forecast and expected. That is why the figure was revised back to the corporate target. There are constant discussions between the NBN Co. and its construction partners about meeting their targets. (Time expired)