COUNTRY LABOR candidate David Ewings has said Labor’s original plan for the NBN can no longer be achieved in one stage due to the “mess” Malcolm Turnbull and Barnaby Joyce have made of the critical infrastructure project.
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Mr Ewings spoke to the Examiner last week and outlined Labor’s plan for the NBN should it be elected on July 2.
“The Liberals have sunk $15 billion into the NBN in the last three years, and much of the initial build is now under contract,” he said.
“A Shorten Labor Government will deal with Malcolm Turnbull’s mess in two ways.
“First, we will scale up the rollout of fibre-to-the-premises and phase out the rollout of fibre-to-the-node, then construction of fibre-to-the-node will cease when the current pipeline of construction work is completed and design and construction of fibre-to-the-premises is scaled back up.”
Mr Ewings said this will deliver fibre-to-the-premises to up to two million homes and businesses during the initial build that would otherwise get Malcolm Turnbull’s and Barnaby Joyce’s second-rate copper version.
“Second, a Shorten Labor Government will commission Infrastructure Australia, with input from relevant experts, to manage the development of a plan that outlines how and when the parts of Australia left with Mr Turnbull’s second-rate NBN should be transitioned to fibre-to-the-premises,” he said.
“This plan will be commissioned in the first term of a Shorten Labor Government.
“The revised Definitive Agreements with Telstra and the Optus HFC Agreement do not require renegotiation to implement Labor’s plan.”
Mr Ewings said a Shorten Labor Government will complete the initial rollout of the NBN by June 30, 2022 – the same time the Liberals’ “second-rate NBN” is likely to be complete.
“Labor will cap the total funding cost of the initial NBN rollout at $57 billion,” he said.
But Member for New England Barnaby Joyce said Labor’s claim that the majority of households under their plan would get fibre to the premises is a “myth”.
“I remember Stephen Conroy saying Labor would deliver fibre to the premises for 93 percent of Australian homes, now they are down to 39 percent, so we can see which direction their policy is heading,” he said.
“What Labor’s policy means for regional people is that you are going to get the same service provided by the same medium whether that is wireless or satellite, because that is what the alternative government the Labor-Greens- Independent alliance is giving.
“They are not giving fibre to the premises for everyone that is a myth, people in the country, where we live, will be getting the same service as the current coalition government is delivering.”
