MEDIA RELEASE - FAKE NBN REVENUE TARGETS ARE BEING USED TO CREATE SPIN AND PAY OUT EXCESSIVE BONUSES - SUNDAY, 9 MAY 2021

09 May 2021

MICHELLE ROWLAND MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS

MEMBER FOR GREENWAY


FAKE NBN REVENUE TARGETS ARE BEING USED TO CREATE SPIN AND PAY OUT EXCESSIVE BONUSES
 

Third-quarter results released on Friday indicate NBNCo will surpass its full-year $4.5 billion FY2021 “revenue target” by at least $200 to $300 million.

Minister Fletcher will heap self-congratulatory admiration upon himself after 1 July for this “result”, but do not be fooled by this devious and fabricated spin.

The most recent NBN Corporate Plan contains the latest in a string of significant downward revisions to the FY2021 revenue target, making it easy to exceed the stated KPI.

FY2021 revenue target

  • 2018 Corporate Plan: $5.4 billion
  • 2019 Corporate Plan: $5.2 billion
  • 2020 Corporate Plan: $4.9 billion
  • 2021 Corporate Plan: $4.5 billion

If past practice continues, senior NBN executive bonuses will be linked to the radically revised down target of $4.5 billion.

NBNCo has the right to shift forecasts in their Corporate Plan, but not if the purpose is to manufacture a false media narrative, to distract from cost blowouts and to try justify excessive corporate bonuses by surpassing misleading low-ball targets.

Labor has raised this concern for several years and has been consistent in flagging concerns about this practice.

The reality is these revised-down targets cannot be missed, despite targets outlined in prior Corporate plans regularly being missed by wide margins.

Rather than fabricating self-congratulatory spin, perhaps Minister Fletcher or NBNCo can examine the insidious contracting scheme that was used to cut the payment rates of frontline NBN subcontractors and technicians during COVID-19?  

SUNDAY, 9 MAY 2021