HAPPY 21 MILLION METRES MALCOLM

There has never been a better time to be a supplier of copper at the expense of the Australian taxpayer.  A Senate Committee has learned NBNCo has now purchased 21,078 km of new copper, after adding a further 4,478 km to its existing stockpile.  With 21 million metres of copper at their disposal, the Liberals have enough to wrap around Australia one and a half times.  Unfortunately while Mr Turnbull enjoys top speeds of 100 Mbps at his Point Piper residence, 3 in 4 Australians on Fibre to the Node cannot achieve those speeds.  Worse still, leaked documents from 2015 revealed the cost of NBN copper remediation had blown out by $600 million. This was a tenfold increase on what was claimed in the December 2013 NBN Strategic Review.  On every measure, Turnbull’s $49 billion multi-technology mix has not been faster or cheaper – it costs more and does less.  Labor again calls on the Government to abandon its second-rate copper rollout wherever feasible, and at a minimum take fibre to the kerb.  Whether it’s copper or coal – the Turnbull Government continues to leave consumers and taxpayers worse off.