GILBERT: Were joined now by Penny Wong, whos in Adelaide. Youve heard what Malcolm Turnbull had to say there: that the lower cost means that that return is much more likely to be a net positive for taxpayers. What do you say to that?
WONG: Well, I say, and the experts say, this policy is a lemon. The Coalitions fraudband policy is a policy that is akin to building a big freeway and having dirt roads off to the side as the way you get to your house. Thats the way theyre approaching this.
What we are building is the technology, the infrastructure for this century and beyond. Thats what were building. What the Coalition is building has been rightly described by experts as a lemon. It wont do the job that Australia needs this infrastructure to do, not just in the next ten years, but in the next 30, 40, 50, 60 years...
GILBERT: But why not
WONG: What Malcolm is relying on
GILBERT: Why not plan for demand
WONG: ... just let me finish this. What Malcolm is relying on is the copper network which was largely built a lot of it was built certainly before you and I were born. And it is not technology that is suited to a smart economy in the 21^st century.
GILBERT: But what his argument is is that you plan for demand now and into the foreseeable future. Why not do that? Because this analogy that you and Stephen Conroy are making isnt really a fair one when you talk about freeways because telecommunications have always done this. You adapt as demand increases.
WONG: But you have to build the platform that recognises
GILBERT: Well he is; fibre-to-the-node is the platform...
WONG: You have to build the right platform. And his is not the right platform. You have to build the right platform that recognises, first, the private sector was never going to build this finally, the Coalition has come to understand this. Second, you need to recognise that Australias a large country. Do we want, as a nation, to try and ensure that we have broadband available to all Australians? Yes, we do. Third, you have to recognise that whatever you and I talk about today as being the things the NBN will be used for, it wont be the things that the NBN is capable of being used for in 10 or 20 or 30 years from now.
I mean, if you think back to 20 years ago, how we thought about mobile phones or how we thought about computers, and you think about the applications today, that reminds us of the enormous potential of this infrastructure, which is about harnessing the creativity and the profit-making incentive of the private sector. Thats a good thing for the economy.
GILBERT: But what about this argument that Labors making that connecting to the NBN under Labor is free the fibre to the home component when really this is a massive taxpayer outlay? Its costing each and every Australian a lot of money to build it.
WONG: And I just remind you that after having a go about that for years now, Tony Abbotts now signed up to a massive taxpayer outlay to build a network thats just a second rate network that wont do what Australia needs it to do. Weve been upfront. Weve said we want to make sure there is a network that services all of Australia for the decades to come. That does require a proper business case. It does require investment by the taxpayer, on which the taxpayer will get a return.
And you know the difference another difference between the Governments plan financial plan for the NBN and Malcolm Turnbulls, is that weve had a proper corporate plan. Weve got a company, a corporate plan which sets out how much it will cost, where the returns will come from, how it will be funded, which has been signed off independently by KPMG and weve released publicly.
What does Malcolm Turnbull do and what does Tony Abbott do? They release a two-page set of costings to journalists and pretend that that is the sort of scrutiny their multi-billion dollar lemon requires.
GILBERT: ... I think there was a fair bit of other background documentation attached to that, but I do want to move on...
WONG: Kieran, you have a look at the NBN corporate plan and then have a look at what was released by the Coalition and you tell us who is being more transparent.
GILBERT: Yeah, but you havent done a cost-benefit analysis.
WONG: Oh, come on...
GILBERT: You havent done a cost-benefit analysis.
WONG: Has Malcolm? Has Malcolm?
GILBERT: Ok, lets, I want to move onto car subsidies now...
WONG: I mean, cmon Kieran. No, no, fair enough. Whats good for the goose, whats good for the gander. Seriously. Anyway...
GILBERT: Alright, car subsidies...
WONG: Car subsidies, very happy to talk about that.
GILBERT: The Coalitions apparently looking at scrapping them post-2015. Is it time to have another look at this? More than $2 billion have gone to car makers over the last decade. When does it become unviable? Isnt it now the time to reassess? Surely youve got to share Jay Weatherills anger at Holden.
WONG: Its a very disappointing decision. However, I also recognise Australian car manufacturers are facing a very high dollar and a very competitive global environment. The figures you just indicated about the car industry its very interesting today that, I think in the Financial Review, leaks from inside the Coalition indicate that theyre not only planning to scrap any assistance to the industry beyond 2015, that in fact theyre looking at taking assistance between now and 2015. Well, if you want to ensure job losses, thats what you do take away the certainty that the industry has.
GILBERT: But the job losses are happening anyway...
WONG: I think there is a very big difference between job losses which are as a result of a high dollar and a lot of competition, and job losses which result from a wholesale withdrawal of government investment which leverages even more private sector investment, and thats the Governments plan.
GILBERT: Finance Minister, Penny Wong. Thanks a lot for that.
WONG: Good to speak with you.
ENDS