NBN committee to scrutinise Telstra deal

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 19 October 2011 10:40

IT Policy - Regulation

The Joint Committee on the National Broadband Network is to scrutinise the agreement between Telstra and the Government for Telstra's participation in the NBN, approved yesterday by Telstra shareholders.

Committee chair, Rob Oakeshott, said: "The Telstra deal, approved by shareholders yesterday, will now be subject to detailed analysis on behalf of taxpayers, to ensure questions of risk, workforce, scheduling, and any related matters are tested for 'value-for-money'."

"This deal has been one of the final steps before Australia enters the major construction and expansion stage of the National Broadband Network, so it is important the deal was done on the right terms and conditions for taxpayers. This is where the committee will spend some time over the coming months before reporting publicly."

The committee next meets for public hearings in Sydney on Monday and Tuesday 24-25 October, where both these issues and related matters will be explored further by its 58-members drawn from both Houses of Parliament.

Monday's meeting will be held in the Northcott Room, Sydney Masonic Centre, 66 Goulburn Street, starting at 10.00 am with NBN Co, DBCDE and the Department of Finance and Deregulation fronting the committee. They will be followed by The Productivity Commission, the Asia Pacific Consulting Group, Optus, Internode and VHA. Tuesday's meeting kicks of at 8.30 in the same location but with only the ACCC scheduled to front the committee.

Audio of the proceedings will be available at the time of the even only, from http://webcast.aph.gov.au/livebroadcasting/

For media comment: please contact the Chair's Office on 0429 787