Just when you thought Malcolm Turnbull could not get any more out of touch he goes to another level.
When asked about the NBN rollout on 3AW radio this morning the Prime Minister said:
Turnbull: I think we’ve got this in hand.
Neil Mitchell: Prime Minister, the people tell me it is not in hand. Every time we raise it the board is full of people complaining.
Source: Neil Mitchell 3AW, 6 October 2017
Well, I'm sorry Malcolm, but here is a list of things which show you actually haven't "got this in hand':
- A cost blowout of $20 billion
- A rollout schedule 3 years behind the promised timeline
- Australia slipping from 30th to 51st in international broadband rankings
- 150 per cent increase in TIO complaints about NBN faults
- The failure to secure private debt which required Government to provide a $19 billion loan
- A 1,075 per cent blowout in the copper remediation bill to $640 million
- 76 per cent of NBN users reporting slow speeds, disconnections, and dropouts
- Small businesses reporting they are losing an average of $9,000 when switching to NBN
- A HFC activation process that remains a mess with one in six premises in limbo.
- Australians being quoted $15,800 to switch from copper to fibre, despite the promise it would be $2,250.
Not only is the Prime Minister delivering a network that costs more and does less, but he is creating an unforgivable digital divide with his flawed multi-technology mix.
He should at least have the humility to accept his NBN failures, and get on with the job of fixing them.
