http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 5917701411
Tony Windsor's broadband 'experts' a motley crew
TWO of of independent NSW MP Tony Windsor's broadband "experts" were an unemployed phone technician and a small country town councillor.
Mr Windsor confirmed last night that Alun Davies, a Telstra technician from Armidale who lost his job about 18 months ago, and David Jones, a councillor on the Inverell Shire Council, were two of the advisers who had persuaded him a National Broadband Network was essential.
These were two of the advisers Mr Windsor quoted when he said on Tuesday that for him, the critical issue in making Ms Gillard Prime Minister rather than Tony Abbott was the NBN.
"My advisers in relation to the broadband technology suggest that you do it once, you do it right and you do it with fibre," Mr Windsor said at the time.
While Labor has promised a $43 billion national roll-out of broadband, the Opposition Leader this week said the plan would be a "minefield of waste and incompetence".
An investigation by Sydney radio station 2GB's Chris Smith Afternoon Show this week identified Mr Davies and Mr Jones as the two key advisers consulted by Mr Windsor.
Mr Davies and Mr Jones last night said they had been in talks with Mr Windsor over the NBN several times in recent months, in Mr Davies' case because "Tony heard I was out of a job".
Mr Davies, who told ABC radio some months ago that he was "down in the dumps" after being made redundant, last night told The Weekend Australian he "wanted to get a job out of this" because "it's too important to be mucking around".
Mr Davies said he had started as "just a worker" at Telstra Countrywide but made his way up through the ranks without a university education, and had experience of fibre rollout in Armidale.
"We did it once, we did it right, and we did it with fibre," Mr Davies said last night.
The other adviser, Mr Jones, is a civil and structural engineer who runs a consultancy in Inverell in Mr Windsor's electorate.
He last night told The Weekend Australian he and Mr Davies had formed a working group to promote the roll-out of the NBN in the New England region, which covers Mr Windsor's electorate.
Mr Jones, who has a masters degree in engineering from the University of NSW, said he had little direct experience in broadband.
"It isn't my particular field, by any means," he said.
But Mr Jones said he had gone to a couple of seminars in Sydney to learn about the internet.
Mr Jones said he was driven to act by the slow internet in New England and said the NBN would add significantly to productivity in his own consulting business and in businesses across the region.
"It would boost New England by millions of dollars if it were rolled out here," Mr Jones said.
Mr Windsor last night said there were "probably about 20 or 30 people I talked to about the NBN", and confirmed that Mr Davies and Mr Jones were two of them. But he declined to comment further, saying "it's none of your business who I am talking to, mate" before the line went dead.
