There has been considerable puffing and posturing from the Coalition in recent days over the National Broadband Network, and it continued this morning after the House of Representatives rejected Malcolm Turnbull’s demand for a cost-benefit analysis of the NBN and the Coalition moved in the Senate to block further consideration of NBN-related bills until the business case recently provided to the government was released.
The Coalition’s righteous demands for government documents are completely at odds with its own attitude of contempt toward the Senate on such matters when in government, but political parties are forever discovering the importance of transparency when in opposition — a discovery quickly forgotten when they return to power. It will be thus when the Coalition returns to the Treasury benches.
We’ve been through all this before, of course, with the McKinsey/KPMG NBN implementation study, which the NBN’s critics seem to prefer not to acknowledge whenever they call for a cost-benefit analysis. Senator Conroy was persistently criticised earlier this year for not releasing that study because it was too critical of the NBN, only to be accused, after its release, of manufacturing it because it clearly demonstrated the viability of the network.
The Coalition’s demands for transparency might have some credibility if Turnbull had not been tasked by his leader with the job of “demolishing” the NBN. And in particular, demolishing it without any alternative plan for addressing the ongoing market failure on broadband caused by the telecommunications decisions of the Hawke and Howard governments. The broadband plan the Coalition took to the election is a dead letter, but there has been no replacement policy, despite the insistence of the Coalition — most recently by federal Liberal director Brian Loughnane last week — that another election may not be far away given the fragility of the government’s parliamentary support.
Turnbull has undoubtedly shifted sentiment within the Coalition quite some distance from the bizarrely Telstra-centric views of Nick Minchin, particularly on structural separation. But when he declares “everybody in this House, I am sure, is committed to the availability of fast broadband at affordable prices across Australia” he has a clear credibility problem.
The Coalition’s only stated policy on achieving this is to “demolish the NBN”, and its approach appears to consist entirely of trying at every turn to delay whatever it possibly can.
Excellent summation of the situation. Listening to the debate this morning, Turnbulls pleading for the Indies to support his bill got the result it deserved although of the narrowest margin, that in this parliament is all that is required. By the by Pynes absolute inability to manage opposition business in this new setup, is consistent with his disgraceful behaviour generally in the House. This immature infantile nobody, should be sent to the back benches to rot.
Nice work — a well put editorial.
I’ve nothing more to add but made this comment because some months ago I complained about some navel gazing “whither politics?” editorial.
Tony Windsor put it rather well on Lateline. “We have been stalling for 10 years, let’s just get on with it”.
The Murdoch world though is pretending that the NBN co. has or needs a business plan when all it is doing is building the spine of the network so service providers can hire and extend service to the public.
Surely to god if teenagers can understand that simple proposition then the coalition of morons can.
There must be someone in the opposition who can point out that the plan is a no lose plan.
After all is anyone going to claim that Telstra has been a losing company over the last 100 years?
It’s weird that the only thing that needs a business plan is the only thing that cannot possibly have a business plan but 100 years of experience with the current old fashioned plans shows is entirely successful.
They are wilfully lying.
Marilyn – I thought you of all people would realise the opposition isn’t about finding the best option for the country but opposing anything & everything blindly because it wasn’t their idea. If the ALP came up with a cure for cancer the opposition would block it for some ridiculous reason.
Yeah Jimmy, I do know that. Thank goodness the Indies are not so stupid.
We are actually getting better legislation.