WHERE’S THE PROSPECTUS FOR BROADBAND?

Australian taxpayers are entitled to ask the Rudd Labor Government “Where’s the prospectus?” for their pie-in-the-sky broadband proposal, according to Senator Sue Boyce, Senator for Queensland.

“This isn’t a plan; it is only an idea,” Senator Boyce said.

“On Lateline last night, the responsible Minister, Senator Conroy, couldn’t provide any detail on how much Australian taxpayers will have to invest in the company, how long before they can expect a profit, or even the vaguest detail about a business plan for the new company.

“Senator Conroy and the Government haven’t planned anything. His answer last night to a question about a business plan was ‘our business case, our business structure and our business model will depend on …negotiations’.

“There’s so little detail available that Australian’s are entitled to believe that all they’re looking at is a lot media spin designed to cover up Minister Conroy’s abysmal failure to get his original broadband scheme off the ground despite 17 months of blathering.

“If anybody else sought to borrow money with so little detail, the Government’s regulators, ASIC and the ASX, would knock them out of the market, and yet the Government is asking the Australian taxpayer to stump up at least $20b on blind faith,” Senator Boyce said.