Despite being spruiked by their best salesman in Malcolm Turnbull, and despite their biggest liability, Tony Abbott, sticking mostly to nodding, the policy has sunk like a stone. It will be interesting to see how long the criticism continues... on Twitter (#nbn, #fraudband) it is showing no signs of abating.
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They seriously doubt his cost projections... including the 'worst possible' case scenarios he is applying to Labor's roll-out in order to come up with the worst imaginable cost figure ($98B), while the Coalition policy has been treated in relation to a 'best possible' case scenario which includes the government paying nothing for Telstra's copper (what has Malcolm been smoking?)
Others are going further and saying that Malcolm is openly lying.
And while Malcolm's side of politics claims to be pro-business, that seems a difficult claim to make (in relation to broadband policy), when some businesses in the West will be forced to outlay 4 times as much under the Coalition plan.
Malcolm's claim that the French are focusing on FTTN rather than FTTP, is also under some question with the suggestion that Turnbull has used facts to mislead.
Then there are the hidden costs on Malcolm's magic nodes which some are suggesting he is intentionally leaving out of his cost calculations. While others claim that the nodes will consume a significant amount of power, which will in turn place stress on our electricity network (leading to inflation pressures) and our greenhouse gas abatement strategies (Malcolm was once Minister for Environment and Water resources... but that's all behind him now).
Technology experts are criticising the plan,saying that it is being built to meet today's need, and by the time it is completed it will not have any capacity to manage growth, which will in turn add additional costs and delays (which Malcolm has also left out of his plan)..
And what of this marvellous asset (Telstra's copper)... what state is it in. Malcolm clearly doesn't know, but a quick glance at the slide show below will give you a good idea (certainly a better idea than Malcolm has). It should be free Malcolm... but it won't be.
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Abbott's performance at the policy release was 'robotic' at best, and he left me and many others with the impression that he still doesn't understand enough about the NBN and what it means for Australia. While Tony claims that he can't do his job with out the internet.... apparently he can do it without a monitor (see left).
Praise from Abbott on tech or communications policy is shallow praise indeed. Just ask Malcolm... Abbott's 'Mr Broadband' became 'Mr Fraudband' within 24 hours, and he may remain that way all his political life.
But then praise from Tony 'Tech Head' Abbott on communications policy is a poison challice... while he relies on a computer to do his job..apparently a monitor isn't necessary.
Clarke and Dawe are always brilliant... but they've really nailed it in the video below.
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The difference between the two plans is vast on so many levels, but surely the most critical one is that Labor's plan is the only one which is planning for future needs, and the only one which has the capacity to ramp up productivity to anywhere near the level our country needs.
I hope the election is fought on multiple issues, but on NBN policy... there is only one major party operating in the real world, and its not the party which counts 'Mr Broadband' as one of its members.