Union appointment to NBN Co board ‘unlikely’

James Riley
Wednesday, 05 August 2009 10:29

Business IT - Technology

Any Rudd Government move to appoint a union representative without specific expertise to the board of the NBN Company would be strenuously opposed by the Opposition, Liberal Senate leader Nick Minchin said.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and senior union leaders are understood to have negotiated a package for better representation for unions on federal government boards, committees, and advisory bodies at the ALP National Conference in Sydney last week.

But Senator Minchin, the Coalition’s shadow communications minister, has warned the Government the NBN Company board representatives must be appointed solely on merit.

“The Government must, in relation to the roll-out of a $43 billion network, select a board which is chosen entirely on merit,” Senator Minchin told iTWire.

“(These are) individuals who are selected on the basis that they are the best people available. If there is a union member who on merit warrants appointment because they have the skills experience and background … then so be it,” he said.

“But they certainly should not be there simply because they are a union official.”

The NBN Company board announcement is expected “imminently” through Communications Minister Stephen Conroy’s office.

The selection process is understood to have been completed, with the names forwarded to the Prime Minister’s office and approved, although it seems the Government may wait until it gets some clean air in the media after the Utegate affair before making the announcement.

Senator Conroy’s office has previously said the NBN appointments would be entirely merit based. The office would not comment specifically on the apparent Gillard-negotiated arrangements, but a source close to the process said it was “extremely unlikely.”

While the package under which unions would be appointed to federal boards and committees only came to light last weekend, the process may have been underway for some time.

The IT Industry Innovation Council announced by Innovation Minister Kim Carr last month included – alongside corporate heavies like the CEO of IBM Australia and managing director of Microsoft – the Queensland State secretary of the Finance Sector Union Michael Clifford, and Ros Eason, a senior industrial officer in the Communications Division of the Communications Electrical & Plumbing Union.

Though union membership of the NBN Company board seems unlikely, there is speculation from the other side of the chamber that former NSW Labor secretary Michael Egan may have been appointed.

Although Egan has been a part of the industry as chairman of the Terria consortium of carriers during a previous broadband lobbying process, his deep connections with Labor may be enough to cause waves.