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Interview with Kate O’Toole - ABC Darwin Mornings
Transcript of The Hon. Paul Fletcher MP, Interview with Kate O’Toole ABC Darwin Mornings
31 October 2013
E&OE
Topics: National Broadband Network
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KATE O'TOOLE:
Paul Fletcher joins me now. He's the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications for the Federal Government. Thanks for speaking with me this morning, Paul.
PAUL FLETCHER:
Good morning, Kate.
KATE O'TOOLE:
So are all of those suburbs going to miss out on fibre to the home, suburbs which had previously been promised to have the NBN completed within months?
PAUL FLETCHER:
Well, let's just explain what has happening here. The previous Labor Government made a series of promises, and since we've come to power - since the Coalition has come to power, we've obviously been looking very carefully at National Broadband Network company and where the rollout is actually up to, and we've learned some very troubling things. For example, Labor went to the last election promising that 1.13 million premises nationally would be getting fibre by 30 June 2014. In fact, NBN Co had already told the Labor Government at that time that that number was going to be revised downwards by 5000 premises, and yet they didn't tell the public before the last election.
So what we are seeking to do is to get the facts out there so that the information the company has about where the roll-out is up to is made available to the public transparently, and one of the things that has been implemented as of this week is that the company, on its website, is putting weekly an update of the number of premises passed fibre, satellite, and wireless, as opposed to the previous quarterly updates. So we're giving the most transparently available information which exists.
KATE O'TOOLE:
Okay. Well, then, be transparent then. For the homes and suburbs listed by Michelle Rowland, will they still get fibre to the home as promised?
PAUL FLETCHER:
Well, the first point to say is, when you say, will they still get? You need to bear in mind that what people were being told before then was not necessarily an accurate statement of what the company was actually planning to do. So what we have now asked the company to do, and they have done, is put up on the website plans or charts - maps - which show the areas where construction has commenced.
And a very important point here is that the definition of construction commenced which the company was previously using was a misleading one. The company previously, as agreed with the previous government, had a position that if any design work - any high level design work - had started at all in respect of an area, that area was defined as one where construction had commenced.
KATE O'TOOLE:
Graham in Millner doesn't care about that definition, though. Graham in Millner cares about getting broadband to his home, and he also has heard and spoken to contractors who were working in his area doing just that, and now Millner is nowhere on the map to be completed soon. So what can you tell Graham in Millner about his prospects of getting fibre to the home?
PAUL FLETCHER:
And what I can tell Graham in Millner is that the map that's on the NBN Co website - the Casuarina Fixed-line Serving Area - is the map that gives the latest and most accurate information the company has, and that is now being shared with the Australian people. And people can have a look at the maps and see which of the areas where there is service now, for example, in the centre of Darwin, areas covering Cavenagh Street and Smith Street and The Esplanade and so on.
KATE O'TOOLE:
Mm.
PAUL FLETCHER:
And Millner on the map, you're quite right, is shown - is not included in the areas where the build has commenced, and that is because what we are giving here is the most accurate information about where the build has commenced, and we've used a definition that is a common sense definition that people would understand, where…
KATE O'TOOLE:
Sure. You've explained that, but the question that I keep asking you, which you haven't answered, are what are going to happen? What is the plan for those areas that have been told that they would be completed in the next 12 months? Are they no longer going to get fibre to the home?
We know that this government's policy was fibre to the node. Fibre to the street level, as opposed to the house level. So if you don't currently appear on that map, do you - does that mean that you are only going to get fibre to your street, as opposed to fibre to your house?
PAUL FLETCHER:
The map gives the most accurate information that's available, and you're quite right. What the Coalition Government has said is, we will be moving to an architecture which is principally fibre to the node. We've also said that we are undergoing a strategic review in the company, which is occurring right now, and that's a very detailed look from top to bottom at the company's operations and what's it's going to be offering to people.
And we need to complete that strategic review before we can say more about the way forward. But what we have given here is the most accurate information available, and I do emphasise the point. The information that was being given by the previous government and by the company under the previous government was not an accurate statement of what the company as, in fact, telling the Labor Government it was going to do.
So Labor went to the last election consciously misleading the Australian people about what the company's actual plans were. The company…
KATE O'TOOLE:
You have said that. You've said that on multiple times in this interview. I think we've got that piece of information. Just what we want to know is whether or not there's going to be fibre to the home in those places, but you can't answer that question for me today.
PAUL FLETCHER:
What I can tell you is we have provided on the company's website the most accurate information [indistinct]…
KATE O'TOOLE:
[Interrupts] Yeah. We know that.
PAUL FLETCHER:
…where construction has commenced, and…
KATE O'TOOLE:
Yeah, but what's the plan for the next few months? You know, what's the…
PAUL FLETCHER:
And we are going through a strategic review, which is also what we said we would do, and we're doing what we said we would do. And when the strategic review is completed, then we will have more to say about the details of the rollout going forward.
KATE O'TOOLE:
Okay. Thanks so much for speaking to us today, Paul.
PAUL FLETCHER:
Thanks, Kate.
KATE O'TOOLE:
Paul Fletcher is the Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister for Communications. Just letting you know what he can let you know at this stage.
ENDS
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