Beaufret appointed to NBN Tassie board

James Riley
Wednesday, 10 November 2010 16:16

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

NBN Company chief financial officer Jean-Pascal Beaufret has been appointed to the board of NBN Tasmania as the operational management of the two companies become more closely aligned.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy's office yesterday confirmed that joint-venture talks between NBN Tasmania Company, the Tasmanian Government and state-owned utility Aurora Energy had been abandoned.

The appointment of Mr Beaufret, a long-time corporate colleague of NBN Company chief executive officer Mike Quigley, brings the financial management of the Tasmanian operation more directly into the day to day operational control of the parent company.

Until he was appointed to the NBN Company last year, Mr Beaufret spent eight years at telecommunications equipment giant Alcatel-Lucent, where he was CFO and director, working closely with Mr Quigley, who was previously chief operating officer at the company.

Government has been under fire over the management of the NBN Tasmania operation, with Liberal Senator Guy Barnett calling the collapse of the joint-venture talks with the Tasmanian Government and Aurora as confirmation that the project "never had a business plan."

With the joint-venture no longer proceeding, Senator Barnett is demanding more transparency about the cost of the fibre roll-out in Tasmania. He says Government claims that the roll-out is on-schedule and under budget are a farce, because the timetable and budget have never been made public.

'Senator Conroy said (in an answer to me) in Senate estimates that he was pursuing discussions with the Premier regarding the joint venture arrangement in the 'near future.'
"What is the cost of the NBN roll-out in Tasmania to date, what is the cost to the Tasmanian taxpayers and Australian taxpayers for the roll-out to date, and what is the cost of the roll-out to be completed and the equity injection to date," Senator Barnett said. "These questions must be answered. What will be the impact on Tasmanian consumers?"

"The Government says the NBN roll-out in Tasmania is 'on time and on budget' but this is a joke and nonsensical because the Government refuses to reveal the costs to date and the budget for the project," he said.