Is Labor antidemocratic for not now releasing NBN report?

[Jovial Monk]

So some say, incl hysteria by Libs and Greens in the Senate. Let us look at some comparisons keeping in mind the NBN business case will be released next month:

The Coalition’s hypocritical line on transparency
by Bernard Keane

Watching the opposition blow hard on the NBN business plan yesterday was belly-laugh stuff. There’s regular political hypocrisy and then there’s the extra virgin, concentrate-they-make-concentrates-from version on offer from Tony Abbott yesterday when he interrupted question time to move “that this house requires the government immediately to publish the National Broadband Network business case”.

Let’s go back a few years, to 2005, specifically. After being interrupted by the 2004 election, the Howard government, via that fearless protector of civil liberties Phillip Ruddock, had reintroduced a set of amendments designed to dramatically curb the rights of asylum seekers from appealing decisions relating to protection visas, and other “proceedings without a reasonable prospect of success. The Migration Litigation Reform Bill 2005 was based, said Ruddock, on a detailed and thorough review of migration litigation in 2003, the Migration Litigation Review Committee headed by Hilary Penfold.

Given that substantial changes are being made in access to courts, you’d assume Ruddock would have released the Penfold Report to enable a fair assessment of whether his amendments reflected the committee’s conclusions.

No such luck. Ruddock refused to release the report. In fact he refused to release the report even after Liberal senators urged the government to release the report when considering the previous version of the bill.

It’s routine for governments not to release legal advice, of course — despite opposition and minor party senators stamping their feet and insisting on their right to see it. But Ruddock never invoked this defence for the Penfold Review. He simply refused to release it.

Other high-profile reports suffered the same fate under the Howard government. The Howard government’s review of health services delivery, conducted by a taskforce chaired by Andrew Podger, was provided to the government in 2005 and was never made public — even The Australian was moved to criticise John Howard for that. Podger had a repeat experience when he was asked to chair a review of military superannuation, which went to the government in July 2007 but wasn’t released until Labor got into office. And then there’s the famous KPMG report on the funding and efficiency of the ABC. That has never officially seen the light of day, although copies were leaked by — some say — ABC management. Then-Communications Minister Helen Coonan refused to release the KPMG report on the basis that it was part of the Budget process. It wasn’t part of the formal Budget process at all, though Coonan did use it in a successful effort to secure more funding for the ABC.

It’s not necessarily the case that the Howard government was wrong to refuse to release such documents. One of the great rituals of the Howard years was senate clerk Harry Evans magisterially declaring that the senate had the right to demand virtually whatever it liked, and the Howard government steadfastly ignoring him. It was frequently right to do so. Governments are entitled to confidentiality in the advice they receive. That doesn’t mean they don’t exploit that right far beyond what is justified by either the public interest or even good political practice, but the right exists nonetheless.

But there’s an interesting difference between the reports the Howard government declined to release, and the NBN study. All of the examples above were reports commissioned outside the existing advice framework of government, or even in the case of the KPMG report, sourced entirely from an external party. The NBN business plan is, literally, an internal government document. Even so, the government has committed to releasing it, but simply wants to remove confidential material from it before releasing it.

If the senate is so agitated about needing to see the NBN business plan, it should reconvene in December to discuss it

http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/11/19/whe ... ypocrites/

So Labor stacks up pretty well! Howard was dedicated to secrecy—and lying, wedging etc, our worst ever Treasurer and PM both!

[Super Nova]

The NBN business plan is, literally, an internal government document. Even so, the government has committed to releasing it, but simply wants to remove confidential material from it before releasing it.

I look forward to it's release.

In a few years time we will see if labor become a little less transparent. It is the trend that the longer you are in office, the less that is transparent because you have to take the responsibility for what is going wrong and you can no longer blame the previous government.

[Jovial Monk]

True, but Howard, the sneaky suburban solicitor started that way.

[IQSRLOW]

Let’s go back a few years, to 2005, specifically. After being interrupted by the 2004 election, the Howard government

So you have resorted to Bernard Cock smoker to try and bolster your argument and relating the biggest waste of money n the history of the nation to trying to stop the illegal immigrants? Amazing that you could equate the two No matter that illegal immigrants are so far removed from spending $43bn on a fucking piece of shit program that is not needed or wanted. No wonder you are completely fucked in the head

[Jovial Monk]

Cost of broadband network much less than $43b, says executive
Lenore Taylor NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT
November 20, 2010
THE national broadband network will cost ''substantially'' less to build than the $43 billion originally estimated and the amount it charges for high-speed internet will reduce over time, the chief executive of NBN Co, Mike Quigley, has revealed as part of the government's pitch to convince senators Nick Xenophon and Steven Fielding to pass critical legislation without seeing the company's business plan.

Senator Xenophon said the government's refusal to release the plan, which it has already received, was ''pissing off'' the senators whose votes it desperately needed.

Late yesterday the government released a letter from Mr Quigley explaining why the business plan could not be provided before Parliament rises on Thursday, and outlining what the senators will be told in private briefings with the government next week.

Advertisement: Story continues below
Mr Quigley said a crucial November 30 decision from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission about where internet retailers can ''plug in'' to the network - and government decisions that would be based on that finding - would have a big impact on the business plan.

''Highly sensitive and commercial in-confidence'' information in the plan would be of ''commercial significance'' to large purchases that NBN Co was negotiating, he said.

But he has outlined ''general points'' from the business plan in the letter to the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, and the Finance Minister, Penny Wong.

He said the network could be built for an amount ''substantially below'' the $43 billion assumed in the implementation study, mainly because the government had done a deal with Telstra to roll the company's existing infrastructure into the network.

The business plan ''projects that prices will be reduced over time'' and that the price for NBN Co's ''basic offering'' will be ''attractive in the Australian broadband market place'', he said.

But Mr Quigley said that despite the deal with Telstra, the amount required from government would be about the same as the $26 billion already predicted, and he suggested NBN Co would provide a rate of return similar to the 6 or 7 per cent predicted in the implementation study.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/techno ... 180z4.html

So there you go.

[IQSRLOW]

Oh look, an executive that is paid for and instructed by Cuntroy says that Liebors NBN scheme will cost less than they originally said. These morons have already cast a 2.5% wage increase into there costings where they have already agreed to a 4% increase in their union accord.

No wonder these fucking morons want to keep the details secret. They are too embarrassed to reveal exactly how incompetent they really are.

You would have thought that 12 years in the doldrums would have brought them some governance, instead we have Liebor pandering to the Greens because they are shit scared of losing more of the middle voters who are unable to think...typical liebor. Lets rely on fucking idiots for our votes.

No wonder you lot are struggling for relevance....you only have to look at your supporters

[IQSRLOW]

1. Liebor are trying to not release their biased business case because they know it's fucked
2. If it was released to the productivity commission, it would be shot down quicker than a gough whitlam fucked up idea. How long before Cuntroy gets sacked? He has to be the worst performing minister with the worst profile in the history of governance. Someone should just shove a sock in his limey arsed paiinful fucking mouth

[Jovial Monk]

Great little pdf setting out everything you need to know about broadband. Some great artist impressions.

http://people.eng.unimelb.edu.au/rtucke ... a10043.pdf

[TomB]

I think it is reasonable to assume that they are trying to prevent it being discussed in this years sittings of parliament and that can only mean that it has some fundamental problems.

[Jovial Monk]

No, the bits that have leaked out paint a promising picture, but there are decisions that need to be made incl by the ACCC.

Labor have also offered to brief the Independents incl I guess that media junkie, Mr X. Wouldn’t do that if they had anything to hide.