The Coalition Government's response to the NBN Joint Standing Committee report shows how "clueless and careless" it is about the need for a proper broadband network which can be used for business, study, work and everyday tasks, the Australian Greens claim.
Greens' technology spokesman Senator Jordon Steele-John said: “This government’s legacy will be knowingly botching Australia’s largest infrastructure project and setting Australia back decades in terms of digital capabilities.
"Their unrelenting pursuit of the unfair and unreliable Multi Technology Mix shows that they just don’t have what it takes to lead Australia into the digital future."
The response was released last week and in it the government dismissed the panel's findings, reiterating that it would stick to its existing policy for rolling out the remainder of the network.
{loadposition sam08}The committee had recommended, among other things, that fibre should replace copper wherever possible for the remainder of the rollout, a suggestion which was not accepted.
"The government is disappointed that after considering 191 submissions, holding 15 public hearings, receiving testimony from 179 witnesses, and undertaking three site visits, the committee's majority report and recommendations indicates a failure to understand the fundamentals of the NBN," the government said in its response.
Senator Steele-John said this was a "continuing disgrace from a government that does not even support a framework to ensure that installers do a good job in the first place. There are clear recommendations to reduce the ongoing cost of installation that this government is blatantly ignoring".
He claimed that hundreds had complained to him about the quality of the installation and connectivity of the NBN.
“The Greens have long advocated for this vital infrastructure project to be built and built properly in the first place; this government has failed to deliver on every level," Senator Steele-John said.
“Australians are sick of the politicking on this issue, they just want a 21st century NBN that everyone can use, without downtime, without remediation, and without having to spend endless hours waiting for complaints to be resolved."