Opposition
Moves to Delay Broadband Roll-out
Monday 7 July 2008
In
a move designed to delay further the roll-out of a national
broadband network (NBN), the Federal Opposition has set up a
Senate Committee to inquire into
Labor’s nation building project.
The Opposition has used its current numbers in the Senate –
due to change at the end of this month – to set up a Senate
Select Committee which is not scheduled to report back to
Parliament until March 2009, well after the date October
2008 date that the Government originally set for its NBN
decision.
That decision date has already blown out in response to
pressure from the industry which claims it does not have
enough information about Telstra’s network to make alternate
bids. If the Opposition has its way, the start date will be
well into next year.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy accused the
Opposition of “economic vandalism”. And he is right.
Labor’s
NBN project – one of the central planks of the platform it
took to the last election – will deliver new services to
communications users, will create work in the industry and
will boost the capacities of the Australian economy.
It is already three years since a national fibre roll-out
was first proposed by Telstra, a proposal the then Coalition
Government saw as a distraction from the main game of
privatising the company. The attempts by the same forces now
to stretch the decision-making process out is not in
Australia’s best interests.
Call
the CEPU on (02) 9893 7822
Authorised by Jim Metcher, State Secretary
Site designed and maintained by Nathan Metcher, Branch Official.
CEPU NSW Postal & Telecommunications Branch 2008
