Media Release
Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy
Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Digital Productivity
Irresponsible Opposition seeks to undermine broadband process
Opposition attempts to disrupt the live and ongoing commercial tender for the National Broadband Network (NBN) threaten to undermine the competitive process, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy said.
It is of critical importance that integrity and confidentiality is maintained to ensure the NBN process delivers the best possible outcome for Australia. It is not appropriate for the Government to conduct a running commentary on a live commercial process, Senator Conroy said.
Accordingly, I do not propose to make any comments or answer any questions about the process in the current Senate Estimates hearing. This is consistent with the approach taken by the Opposition when they were in Government.
During the course of the T3 sale, the former Finance Minister, Senator Nick Minchin, declined to answer questions about the scoping study and float. He noted that Estimates proceedings should not be used to disrupt or damage the sale process. Minchin highlighted the potential for inadvertent comment that could affect the sale process.
(Senate Estimates hearing, 2 November, 2006, page E42)
The Government has made significant amounts of information relating to the NBN publically available. The NBN Request for Proposals (RFP) is a public document and clearly sets out the Governments objectives and establishes the criteria by which proposals will be evaluated.
After presiding over 18 failed broadband plans over 11 years, the Opposition now wants to undermine Australians access to first-class broadband.
The Government is committed to a rigorous competitive assessment process to determine who should build the NBN, Senator Conroy said.
The Government welcomed the scrutiny of the Auditor-General and noted his finding last week that stated:
…nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the arrangements put in place do not provide the basis for the RFP process to accord with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines.
(Auditor General, preliminary review of NBN process, 22 May, 2008)
Further information on the National Broadband Network is available at www.dbcde.gov.au/nationalbroadbandnetwork
27 May 2008
Contact: Tim Marshall 0408 258 457
