There would be no broadband plan covering 99 per cent of Australia without the National Party, Queensland Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce said today.

"This broadband plan has only come about because of the National Party's ability to negotiate for the delivery of the funds to pay for the plan. It is the best plan for today without a shadow of a doubt.

"I strongly believe that in the tender process, although I had not seen any of the other tenders, it was this plan, then daylight, then other plans.

"This plan deals with the fact we do not have the hundreds of billions of dollars to get fibre to the farm. But, we do get broadband to more people than any other plan proposed by other parties.

"The reason for this is that nodes - the posts in the ground our telephones are connected to – are not intermittently positioned around the country like tree stumps. So, our proximity to nodes out in the bush is probably non existent and therefore we need another delivery mechanism to get the service.

"This is the air that you breathe – the mechanism for wireless.

"The National Party will continue to push for a fibre perimeter of the State. Why? Because this gives us the opportunity of competing platforms.

"Under this plan the two best things have been delivered to the consumer in rural and regional Australia – firstly broadband and secondly competition to keep prices down.

"With respect Senator Conroy's assertion I should resign because we didn't get enough - this comes from a man who has never fulfilled his obligation in the Senate for a partisan representation of the people of Victoria as Senator.

"If it comes down to a choice between Labor and Victoria, Senator Conroy has taken the pledge he will represent Labor every time. Senator Conroy has an unblemished record in backing Labor over the State of Victoria every time - an interesting interpretation of his role in the Senate."