The Federal Labor Opposition has announced that it will rollout ‘Fibre-to-the-Premises’ to up to two million additional Australian homes and businesses.

According to Labor, the Coalition Government has doubled the cost of their ‘second rate’ National Broadband Network (NBN) up to $56 billion. In response, a Shorten Labor Government will cap the total funding for the NBN at $57 billion.

Labor will spend exactly the same amount of public funding on the NBN as the Liberals and claim that there will be no impact on the budget from this announcement.

Under Labor’s plan, the public equity contribution will be the same regardless of who wins the election. The difference, however, is that up to two million more Australians will get a ‘Fibre-to-the-Premises’ NBN under Labor.

Also under Labor, the much criticised rollout of Malcolm Turnbull’s ‘second rate’ copper NBN— ‘Fibre-to-the-Node’ —will be phased out. Construction of ‘Fibre-to-the-Node’ will cease when the current pipeline of construction work is completed and design and construction of ‘Fibre-to-the-Premises’ is scaled back up.

Labor has also announced that it commission Infrastructure Australia, with input from relevant experts, to manage the development of a plan that outlines how and when the parts of Australia left with Mr Turnbull’s NBN should be transitioned to ‘Fibre-to-the-Premises’. This will be commissioned in the first term of a Shorten Labor Government.

Labor believes it can complete the initial rollout of the NBN by 30 June 2022, the same time the Liberals’ lesser quality NBN is likely to be complete.

The Federal Opposition has been very critical of the Coalition Government, claiming that Malcolm Turnbull has ‘made a mess of the NBN’. For example, according to Labor, in the last three years:

• The cost of his second rate NBN has nearly doubled.
• The time it will take to build has more than doubled.
• Australia has dropped from 30th in the world for internet speeds to 60th.
• Malcolm Turnbull promised he could build a second rate copper NBN for $29.5 billion. This has now blown out to up to $56 billion.

Labor has reminded voters that Mr Turnbull that Australia would have access to the NBN this year. However, less than 20 per cent of Australians have access to the NBN—a long way short of the 100 per cent promised.

To compound the problem, Australians are now getting a ‘slower, second rate copper NBN’ that will not meet their needs into the future.

For more information on Labor’s plan to build the NBN Australia needs please visit http://www.100positivepolicies.org.au/build_the_national_broadband_network_australia_needs

When the Turnbull government presented the 2016 budget, the plans for this unnecessary double dissolution, and the new electoral rules were already in place.

The actual date of the budget had been changed to allow the schedule for this very long election campaign.

While Labor in the Senate negotiated a truncated estimates process to allow some scrutiny of the range of budget items, much of the detail of the proposals have been not publicly considered, and some continue to trickle out as the campaign continues.

The many questions around the superannuation changes bedevil a range of government ministers.

Mathias Cormann has acknowledged that LNP members have raised their concerns about the impact of the changes with him, but that after he has talked them though the policy, they now understand.

That level of understanding does not seem to have reassured the Cabinet Secretary, Arthur Sinodinos:

“ARTHUR SINODINOS, CABINET SECRETARY: Well the superannuation changes were part of the Budget, so they were presented to the party room before the Budget was handed down in the Parliament. The next process will be that if we win the election then there will be consultation on various changes and then legislation presented to the party room.

SPEERS: So they could change?

SINODINOS: Look, I’m not going to speculate on that.”

So, we get the budget, then the election (including the promises), then the details AND then consultation!!

As more figures are released, it seems that more and more people are fearful about the impact of the changes, and Scott Morrison’s confident claims that only 4% of the wealthiest Australians will be affected by the changes, which are definitely NOT retrospective, are causing considerable angst.

They are retrospective and estimates of those possibly affected by the Turnbull/Morrison measures is way in excess of “4%”, it could be 500,000 superannuates or even as many as 1.2 million.

Labor’s Shadow Ministers Jim Chalmers and Andrew Leigh have been highlighting the confusion and the lack of detail the government has provided.

It is too easy to make claims and to promise that there will be consultation after the election… just to get the government over the line and then after 2 July make as many changes as you like.

Three years ago the LNP made many promises which had a use by date of 6 pm election night.

This is no way to run a budget measure, an election promise or run the country.

Claire Moore, Labor Senator for Queensland