Kev's Site - The NBN is a waste of taxpayer money
It is about time the Independents, stopped kissing up to the Government and started doing their job. Senator Xenophon started to, but he seemed to have ignored what was under his nose, they released certain info but he had almost decided to vote based on its release and not what is in the documents, and the obvious omission with regards to this Telstra deal?
The government had also agreed to a number of measures, including ongoing oversight of the NBN roll-out by a new parliamentary committee to be chaired by a lower house independent MP.
The government had provided Senator Xenophon with a briefing by NBN co boss Mike Quigley without the need for a confidentiality agreement.
This is the same Mike Quigley who was a top executive at Alcatel-Lucent between 2001 & 2006 and US regulators have fined Alcatel-Lucent $US137 million ($129 million) for paying bribes to win government contracts between 2001 and 2006. This intimates the person heading this process, he is either unable to manage a process, willing to turn a blind eye to how outcomes are achieved or is actively involved in these actions.
The Govt was claiming a saving of $5 billion Dollars due to a deal with Telstra. What they failed to explain is that Telstra would get $11.5 billion for there co-operation, to date this deal is still not finalised. This still meant a $43 billion cost for the NBN network paid by us and yet information was not being released to us because of some sort of need for confidentiality by NBN Co NBN Co is a company, but we paying for them to come in to existence??? Since when does a Govt. use $43 billion dollars of our money to roll out a Network that NBN Co will control and we are not allowed access to the full business plans, budget documents, and side deals along the way due to the information being commercial in confidence. Now contractors have screamed foul and run off, and we have discovered the need for another $20 billion, but wait there is more, it appears they will not be able to reach more than some 78% of people now?? Where is public accountability and transparent Government gone???
A $8 billion dollar reduction in the roll out cost is explained as a result of Telstra agreeing to NBN using their existing infrastructure, how generous of them?? Telstra is a business and aren't about to throw away an opportunity to make money, so what has this cost us, no-one has bothered to ask?
They then claimed there will be big savings through bundling on the NBN? We have had this for years and it does not cost us $43 billion . They have also talked about other services that will use the NBN, but these use our existing services already?
The cost of this may still be too high for many, especially when we have Broadband with speeds that are fast.
In what alternate reality do they see this as justifiable? They are rushing the roll out so we will be stuck with it and are certainly stuck with the bill that NBN Co, are relishing as they will have a Network rolled out at tax payers expense and then they will be making money from us again through ongoing usage.
It claims this will deliver a $2.4 billion gain to households through time-saving activities such as remote work and study, shopping, health, education and data activities.
Remote study occurs in a few cases already, however, it is not a solution for education. Kids study using the existing internet without issue already. We could do online shopping for almost all our needs already, and would do so if we wanted this. So basically it is around $56 billion to do what we could do now if that was what we wanted. ?
TAXPAYERS now face greater liabilities for construction delays or cost blowouts during the building of the National Broadband Network under a revamped tender process in which the government-owned NBN Co will take on more risks to keep down bidder costs for contractors, this is not acceptable in any business practice.
The Australian revealed that NBN Co will today announce the revised contract, but this comes amid a continuing tussle between unions and contractors on wage claims and working conditions that has the potential to inflate the final building costs on the project.
A 74-page document obtained by The Australian shows the unions had sought from NBN contractors a 36-hour working week, nine-day fortnight, 20-minute smokos, "crib" breaks after more than 90 minutes overtime and the chance to volunteer on development projects.
A household on the average wage spending 16 hours a week on the internet is predicted to save an average $7699 a year — or $148 a week.
That is interesting, I spend $105 per month for 16 hours a day internet use and all my phone calls also, but somehow they want me to believe I will save $148 per week ???
The maths still don't add up Mr Conroy
On top of all this is the driving force behind this Governments determined push to force the NBN down our throats, The Fabian Society of which our PM is a far Left member.
The Australian Fabians have four general aims:
1. To contribute to a renaissance of left of centre and progressive thought, by generating and disseminating ideas that are original, meet the challenge of the times, and are of high intellectual quality.
2. To contribute, by getting these ideas into the public domain, to the creation of a left of centre political culture and consensus.
3. To help create an active movement of people identifying with the left of centre and engaged in political debate.
4. To influence the ideas and policies of the Labor Party (and other parties) and Labor Governments to encourage progressive reform in practice.
Though they call theirselves a think tank, the Australian Fabians are more than this. They are based on a social and intellectual movement:
The UK Fabian Society has been a central part of democratic socialist, social-democratic and Labor tradition thoughout the 20th century in Britain, and the Australian Fabians in Australia since 1947. In their own words "Our output is thoroughly contemporary and relevant: by dint simply of who we are, it is organically connected to the history of the left.
Our goal is not merely (as by and large it is for other think tanks) to produce interesting ideas for the elite policy community. It is the promotion of socialist and progressive thought throughout society. We aim to change the intellectual climate of the Australia (and indeed of the wider world). We want to make broadly left of centre ways of thinking commonplace.
A crucial element of this, obviously, is to help such thought be translated into practice, particularly by government. Producing workable policies which manifest left of centre principles, and encouraging their consideration by the Australian Labor Party and by Labor governments, is therefore a crucial part of what we do. But it remains our aim to get left of centre ideas into the wider public domain. Our function in providing arenas for ordinary people to engage in intelligent discussion - in local societies and in conferences, schools and other meetings - is absolutely central to our purpose."
We still will be required to have the Network attached to our homes and without it we will have no internet on our PC nor will we have landlines.
MEDIA magnate Harold Mitchell and activist Jon Dee are among 20 "NBN champions" picked to spruik the benefits of the wholesale fibre network.
Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy yesterday announced the final list of promoters at the launch of the Gillard government's digital economy strategy.
Mr Dee -- who founded the activist organisations Do Something! and Planet Ark -- said that while he was a strong supporter of the NBN he did not believe the government had successfully sold the project to date.
And yet again this will cost us more to be fed on Bull s**t and kept in the dark, in regard to the truth. If this Network was needed we would not need to have it spoon fed to us!!!
Our Australian Democracy is fast disappearing and our way of life is almost lost also. The one thing this Government can not take away though is our Aussie spirit.
We must NEVER say there is nothing we can do, 'for all that is needed for evil to win, is for good people to do nothing.'
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