Remember the Government boondoggle that is Australia’s National Broadband Network?
Not content with landing the taxpayer with at least twice the original bill, a likely never ending implementation and terrible customer service, the genius politicians are now going to fine the taxpayer for the poor customer service.
No, really they are.
Let’s just step you through the order of events of which this is the latest installment;
- A Prime Minister and Minister, whilst enjoying a business class flight at taxpayer expense, concocted a plan to deliver broadband to the nation and decided on the technology to achieve this.
- When costed, this personal branding exercise was estimated to total around $50bn… at taxpayer expense. A mitigation was offered that the project should make a profit so therefore not costing the taxpayer any money.
- The “profit” would be made from the subscribers of the service, i.e. the taxpayer.
- Through the usual Ministerial interference and large government project incompetence, the final bill will land at upwards of double the estimate, the project won’t make a profit and the people who the free market wouldn’t have serviced still won’t be serviced…. all underwritten at the taxpayer expense.
- In response to the delays and legendary poor customer service, the likely incoming government have decided that they will fine the NBN Co. (i.e. the taxpayer) and compensate the customers (i.e. taxpayers).
Bill’s Opinion
It isn’t in the interest of any major political party to stop, take a moment and think about the logical fallacies and insanity involved to get to this situation and realise the continuation of this insanity is a terrible outcome for the taxpayer.
The correct thing to do about the NBN Co. is to close it down, further deregulate the telecommunications’ industry to encourage more suppliers to the market, sell the NBN assets and use what little residual value is realised to pay for a tendered contract to provide high speed internet to the 3% of the population that aren’t living in a metropolitan area.
Oh, and tar and feather every politician who signed off on the original and subsequent NBN legislation.