PM meets with Xenophon over NBN

Last-minute talks with Prime Minister Julia Gillard have failed to convince
independent senator Nick Xenophon to immediately back laws paving the way for the
national broadband network (NBN).
With two sitting days to go until parliament rises for the year, the government
requires Senator Xenophon's vote to pass laws separating Telstra's retail and
wholesale arms, and allowing the telco to take part in the NBN - a key election
promise.
But the South Australian senator, who met separately with Ms Gillard and
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy on Tuesday, maintains the government needs to
publicly release the NBN's business plan to be accountable for spending $43 billion
of public money.
Senator Xenophon told parliament in his first speech on the bill he supported its
aims "because it effectively gives the parliament the last major opportunity to make
sure that we are on the right track (with the NBN)".
But he said he would reserve his position on the bill while the government insisted
on confidentiality in order to see the business plan.
"No one in this place should be voting blind, and signing a confidentiality
agreement ... doesn't resolve the problem for me," he said.
"I do not believe it is a transparent, robust approach in a parliamentary democracy."
Ms Gillard has promised to release the plan, but not until December, after a crucial
report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is completed.
Speaking after the meeting, the prime minister would only say: "I've been chatting
with Nick Xenophon - it's always good to talk."
Senator Xenophon said he did not accept that the business case could not be released
before the competition watchdog's report.
He said he would also like to see a joint standing committee of parliament set up to
scrutinise the rollout of the NBN, with advice from the Productivity Commission.
The government on Tuesday agreed to a lower house committee looking at the social
and economic impact of the NBN as a concession to calls for more information on its
value.
While the Labor caucus did not discuss the standoff on Tuesday, Opposition Leader
Tony Abbott told the coalition party room the NBN had gone from being a "political
positive" for the government during the election to a liability.
The coalition on Tuesday introduced a private senator's bill that would require the
government to publish the business case and refer it to the Productivity Commission
for a cost-benefit analysis.
The government revealed on Tuesday it had hired external corporate advisers to test
the assumptions underpinning the NBN business case, which Treasurer Wayne Swan
described as "normal commercial practice".
The finance department commissioned Greenhill Caliburn to review the "robustness" of
the 30-year business plan and the 2011 corporate plan of the company tasked with
rolling out the network, NBN Co.
Ms Gillard told parliament the review, which was criticised by the opposition, was
part of the government's "patient and methodical work" to roll out the NBN.



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