NBN Bill sparks war of words in parliament

October 9

Labor and the Coalition are trading blows over the future of the National Broadband Network (NBN), after the Albanese government introduced a Bill to keep it in “public hands”.

Chaotic scenes played out in question time on Wednesday, peaking when House Speaker Milton Dick booted out Liberal MP Tony Pasin for his contribution to the “wall of noise” while the Communication Minister responded to a question.

But just when the Lower House seemed to settle on a cordial tone to wish Anthony Albanese a safe trip to a major international summit in Laos, Peter Dutton took one last swipe.

Camera IconOpposition leader Peter Dutton took a dig at the Prime Minister while wishing him a safe trip to the ASEAN summit in Laos. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia

“The strategic relationships, the trade and the other issues raised by the Prime Minister are very important … and we wish him well on his trip, in our country’s name,” the Opposition Leader said.

“And perhaps, on the sidelines, Prime Minister, you can take the opportunity to trumpet the government’s world-leading NBN program.”

The government’s Bill aims to repeal sale provisions for the NBN set out in the NBN Companies Act.

The former Coalition government declared the communications network “built and fully operational” in late 2020, which is a requirement for sale to a private owner.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconPrime Minister Anthony Albanese says the NBN ‘belongs in public hands’. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia

But the government has accused the Coalition of rushing the NBN, a critical piece of infrastructure in a digital world, for a cash grab.

Mr Albanese told the Lower House that the NBN “belongs in public hands”.

“It should be affordable and accessible to all Australians,” Mr Albanese said.

“Now, we have introduced legislation into the House today that safeguards the future of the NBN, making sure that it cannot be privatised, sold off or hired out, because there has never been a public service or asset that the Liberal Party did not want to sell off.”

The government has argued that keeping the NBN public would guarantee affordable high speed internet for future generations.

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