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NBN Bills now with added transparency

The Greens last night celebrated after successfully moving amendments to the current NBN legislation before parliament that will open up NBN Co to scrutiny through Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.
Written by Renai LeMay, Contributor and  AAP , Contributor

The Greens last night celebrated after successfully moving amendments to the current NBN legislation before parliament that will open up NBN Co to scrutiny through Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.

Parliament

(Australian Parliament House image by
Andrea Schaffer, CC2.0)

The party had been pushing for the measure over the past several months, after it emerged that NBN Co would not be subject to FOI requests because of its status as a government-owned corporation. A deal was struck with Labor on the issue in late February, despite Prime Minister Julia Gillard's prior statement that NBN Co's FOI exemption had been "ordinary business".

"This is a big win for transparency and openness in the roll-out of high-speed broadband in Australia," sole Greens MP Adam Bandt said in a statement last night, as the National Broadband Network Companies Bill 2010 and the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network Measure — Access Arrangements) Bill 2010 passed the House of Representatives.

"High-speed broadband is crucial to Australia's future and it is essential that its development is subject to high levels of accountability. The amendments will mean NBN Co is subject to FOI Act in the same manner as government business enterprises such as Australia Post, Medibank and the CSIRO," he said in a statement.

Bandt thanked the Labor Government and independent MPs for the "constructive" way they had approached the issue. But the MP described the Coalition's efforts as "a last minute attempt to derail the amendments".

Opposition Communications Spokesperson Malcolm Turnbull criticised the amendment from Greens MP Adam Bandt, arguing it would be ineffectual under the Freedom of Information Act.

"We have frankly the farce of the Greens who ... have been gulled or conned by the government into a set of amendments which will make the NBN in practical purposes completely immune from disclosure of any documents under the Act," he told parliament.

An amendment by Turnbull, to make NBN Co a prescribed authority under the FOI Act, was defeated by one vote, with Independent MP Rob Oakeshott siding with the coalition.

Ironically, Oakeshott's support for the opposition came after the government had moved to make him chairman of a new joint parliamentary committee for the NBN.

Its 16 members will include seven government and coalition members and two crossbenchers, from both houses of parliament.

With a place reserved for Oakeshott, the final spot is likely to be fought over by South Australian Independent Senator Nick Xenophon and Greens Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam.

A spokesperson for Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese said parliament would decide the remaining unaligned position.

Ludlam said he was interested in being part of the committee, and had questions about managerial and financial matters.

"We want it rolled out as long as it doesn't cost a dollar more than it needs to," he said.

The committee owes its establishment to an undertaking Gillard gave to Xenophon during the passage of telecommunications legislation through the Senate late last year.

It is expected to grill NBN Co boss Mike Quigley, and have the ability to interview private sector players like Telstra.

Albanese told parliament it had wide terms of reference and a balanced membership, which demonstrated the government's commitment to openness and transparency.

Earlier, Turnbull's proposal to have the NBN subject to a public works committee was voted down, with Oakeshott and fellow independents Tony Windsor, Andrew Wilkie and Bob Katter siding with the government.

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