Greens nudge Conroy for NBN plan

Beverley Head
Tuesday, 16 November 2010 14:47

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Greens communications spokesman Senator Scott Ludlam will try to force the Government to release the NBN Co's corporate plan, which it received last week, before the Senate breaks for the summer.

Speaking on ABC Radio this morning Senator Ludlam said he intended to use an 'order for production of documents' which would compel the minister for communications Senator Stephen Conroy to make public the contents of that plan. He said that Australians were essentially shareholders in the NBN Co, and it behoved the Government to provide them with all the information available.

He also called for the Government to release its response to the NBN implementation study which has never been made public.

Senator Ludlam warned that should Senator Conroy ignore such an order he would be considered to be in contempt of the Senate.

Contempt however seemed to be flowing fast and free in the Senate this afternoon with a series of increasingly shrill questions and answers regarding the planned rollout of the national broadband network. Liberal  Senator Cory Bernardi again demanded the Government establish an independent cost benefit analysis of the proposed NBN.

A clearly agitated Senator Conroy refuted the need for such a cost benefit analysis and accused the opposition of persistently attempting to stall the progress of the NBN.  

He also failed to directly respond to questioning about the OECD report released earlier this week which queried the Gillard Government's approach to a national broadband network. Senator Conroy did however indicate that pricing plans for the NBN would be available 'shortly.'