Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Committee on the National Broadband Network, I present the committee's fourth report incorporating a dissenting report entitled Review of the roll out of the National Broadband Network,together with the minutes and proceedings.

In accordance with standing order 39(f) the report was made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—I present the fourth report of the Joint Committee on the National Broadband Network, entitled Review of the rollout of the National Broadband Network, covering the period from 1 January to 30 June 2012, as well as other current issues reported after this period.

Under its terms of reference, the NBN committee is required to report to the parliament every six months on the rollout of the NBN, including such items as the achievement of take-up targets, including premises passed and covered, and services activated, as set out in NBN Co.'s corporate plan; network rollout performance, including service levels and faults; the effectiveness of NBN Co. in meeting its obligations as set out in its stakeholder charter; NBN Co.'s strategy for engaging with consumers and handling complaints; NBN Co.'s risk management processes; and any other matter pertaining to the NBN rollout that the committee considers relevant. The committee's fourth report therefore covers a comprehensive range of matters.

Chapter 1 of the report provides important introductory information about the committee's fourth review inquiry process and a useful summary of major developments over this reporting period relevant to the NBN rollout. Chapters 2 and 3 cover the core topics of performance reporting and regulatory issues. The section on performance reporting examines key performance indicators for the NBN; NBN rollout progress; and NBN Co.'s financial results. The committee made three recommendations concerning these matters. These three recommendations are aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability of the government and NBN Co. reporting on the NBN rollout.

Chapter 4 of the committee's report looks at the important issue of NBN rollout progress in regional and remote communities. A combination of the three NBN technologies—fibre, fixed wireless and satellite—will be rolled out to regional and remote areas of Australia, and indeed it is happening right now. The committee made one recommendation relating to this issue, concerning mobile telephone services and coverage across regional and remote areas and how that relates to the rollout, particularly of the wireless network, and the opportunities that present themselves.

Chapters 5 and 6 consider a range of matters determined by the committee to be of significance at this stage of the NBN rollout, such as connecting multidwelling units; medical alarms; private equity engagement; and workforce issues. The committee made recommendations concerning a number of these matters. In particular, on the matter of workforce issues, the committee was concerned to continue its monitoring of the Telstra Retraining Funding Deed. Under this deed, the government has committed to provide $100 million to Telstra to support the availability of an appropriately trained workforce for the NBN and retrain Telstra staff affected by the NBN rollout. The committee therefore recommended that the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy provide an annual statement to the committee on progress concerning a range of matters under the Telstra Retraining Funding Deed.

On a final note, the report also includes a detailed summary of the NBN committee's visit to New Zealand from 24 to 28 September 2012 under the Australia New Zealand Parliamentary Committee Exchange Program. The objectives of the committee's visit were to establish links with the commerce select committee, selected private sector organisations and government agencies responsible for delivery of New Zealand's high-speed broadband network and to gain a practical insight into the workings, policies and funding arrangements underpinning New Zealand's ultrafast broadband and rural broadband initiatives, in particular: the mix of technologies incorporated in New Zealand; the associated telecommunications regulatory issues in relation to the demerger of Telecom New Zealand; the wholesale pricing issues; the community consultation and community education strategies; the government, corporate and community readiness; and the existing employment and skilling issues. These are very similar to many of the issues we face here in Australia. The committee welcomed the opportunity to learn about the New Zealand experience in developing its high-speed broadband network, and I know it was valuable for all members across party lines.

Finally, I have had four children, and this is the fourth report of this committee. Like with children, you have easy births and difficult ones. This fourth report was a difficult birth. I invite those interested to read it and I invite committee members to produce a fifth and final report in this parliament. I, as chair, am not confident we can do it. We are starting to fall onto political party lines in election season, and there is a danger that we will just deliver a compendium of policy platforms. I hope I am wrong. The committee's challenge is to do the good work and oversight work of the committee as per its terms of reference. I hope we can get there and I look forward to working with the committee to achieve it.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I congratulate the honourable member for his chairmanship of the committee. But I want to draw the attention of the House to the dissenting report by the coalition members and senators. There are some very real concerns with the way in which this project is being undertaken. As I think honourable members understand, the coalition is thoroughly committed to completing the National Broadband Network. We are thoroughly committed to all Australians having access to very fast broadband. Those points are not in contention. The issues are, relevantly, how much this is going to cost and how long it is going to take. On the issue of cost, it is obvious that the Commonwealth is spending more money than is absolutely necessary and it clearly is a matter of the more you spend on it the less affordable it becomes. And, of course, the longer it takes the longer people who do have inadequate broadband are going to have to endure that situation. We have suggested a different approach that we are quite satisfied will ensure the broadband network is completed sooner, cheaper and, consequently, more affordably.

We have a remarkable lack of transparency on the cost of the NBN's construction. The NBN Co. will not tell the committee what it is costing them to pass or connect each premise. As we have set out in this report, they have hinted at costs but they do not even include the cost of getting the fibre into the premise, which, as everybody in the industry knows, is actually the single largest part of the civil works. That is why so many telco firms terminate the fibre at the kerb or in the basement of an apartment building or on a street corner. What is most remarkable about this is that here you have the NBN Co., which is a government owned business that is being set up as a monopoly, so it does not have to worry about competitors, and is wholly owned by the taxpayers of Australia, and it will not provide basic information that telcos in other markets do. Chorus, which is the structurally separated customer access network company that was formerly part of Telecom New Zealand, discloses precisely what its cost is to pass each premise and to connect each premise. You have to ask yourself why NBN Co. is not producing those figures. I think the reason is pretty clear: they are not prepared to own up to the huge and growing cost of this rollout.

I have talked about the cost here, but the speed of the rollout is a matter that we have also expressed great concern about. In 2010 the NBN Co's business plan said that they will have passed 1.3 million premises by 30 June 2013. In August last year they reduced that down to a figure somewhat in excess of 300,000. Now, it is 286,000, and we understand they will shortly be announcing that they have not been able to meet that target either. At that rate it could take in excess of 20 years to complete this network. So what does that mean for somebody who has lousy broadband? At least two million premises in Australia do not have sufficiently fast broadband to be able to watch a YouTube video. So, yes, there is a real need to address it, but it has to be done in a speedy and cost-effective way. If the government had had an ounce of rational responsibility and an ounce of business sense before embarking on this project it would have done a thorough cost-benefit analysis, but I have spoken to the House about that before.

We have made a number of recommendations in our dissenting report, which are all directed at the NBN Co. providing the committee, and through that committees the people of Australia, with the information we and the Australian people need to actually assess whether this project is delivering value for money and whether it is delivering an outcome, product or infrastructure in a timely way. At the moment, all of our predictions that this project would cost far too much and take far too long I am afraid are being borne out by experience. It is not good enough to have a wholly owned government business with a financial disclosure culture that would do the Kremlin proud. This should be the most transparent, the most accountable telecoms company in Australia, but you can find out more information about any of the listed telecoms companies in Australia, from Telstra down, than you can about this one. It is being treated as though it is some sort of secret agency in a black box.

The only conclusion we can come to is that they are not prepared to face up to the fact that this infrastructure project is failing. It is failing to deliver the job. It is failing to connect households. Nineteen months after starting construction in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, the NBN Co. through its contractor Syntheo is not in a position to connect one premise—zero. This is not a failure; this is a total failure—a complete and utter failure. It is not often that people fail to this extent. That is the nature of the problems this project is facing. It is about time that they fessed up, opened the books and allowed the people and its representatives in this place to thoroughly assess them. I strongly recommend to the House the report and, in particular, the dissenting report by the coalition members and senators.

Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is adjourned. The resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. and the member will have leave to continue speaking when the debate is resumed.

Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the order of the day be referred to the Federation Chamber for debate.

Question agreed to.