The Federal Senate has passed a motion which forces the Rudd Government to release the National Broadband Network reports from the ACCC and the expert panel: but only after the winning bidder has been selected.
Shadow Communications Minister Nick Minchin had wanted a motion to be passed which would have forced the report to be released today.
However, a compromise was made, changing the release date to "the day after the winning bid is announced", in order for the motion to be passed.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has not wanted to release the ACCC and expert panel's report until the bidder was chosen, due to probity concerns.
Minchin believed the report needed to be released to keep the process transparent, and maintained that the advice should be publicly released before a successful tenderer is chosen.
"This is about ensuring the Rudd Government is accountable and the Australian public are properly informed about a project which puts at risk $4.7 billion of taxpayers' money," he said.
"Public scrutiny of this crucial advice to government will enable a proper assessment of whether Labor is acting truly in the national interest and not purely in its short-term political interest."
So when the report is released and it doesn't smell right, would the winning bidder still win?
Win for Minchin, lose for the rest of us perhaps?