Rudd deserts another principle

May 07, 2010 09:45

“The release of the long-awaited NBN study today reveals that Prime Minister Rudd has deserted one more of his once closely-held principles,” Senator Joyce, the Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Infrastructure and Water, said today.

In the 2008-09 Budget the Government committed themselves to:

Decision making based on rigorous cost-benefit analysis to ensure the highest economic and social benefits to the nation over the long term.

But page two of the NBN implementation study explicitly states that it is not a "cost-benefit analysis of the macro-economic and social benefits."

"The NBN study reveals another Labor broken promise." Senator Joyce said today. “Two years ago Mr Rudd was talking up the benefits of establishing Infrastructure Australia and subjecting infrastructure investments to rigorous analysis. But on the biggest infrastructure project he has committed to he has deserted these principles, just as he has deserted the ETS.”

"Infrastructure Australia has been effectively gagged on the issue. Their public analysis has amounted to five paragraphs last year in ticking off on an investment of up to $4.7 billion from the Building Australia Fund. At almost $1 billion per paragraph, it wasn't cheap advice. Minister Albanese, the Minister for Infrastructure, was missing in action.”

As Ken Henry, Secretary of the Treasury, stated last year:

Government spending that does not pass an appropriately defined cost-benefit test necessarily detracts from Australia’s wellbeing. That is, when taxpayer funds are not put to their best use, Australia’s wellbeing is not as high as it otherwise could be.

"Is it any wonder that this is a Government that has racked up $138 billion in debt and is continuing to borrow up to $2 billion a fortnight? Like much of this borrowing, the Government made its decision to spend $43 billion on the NBN in haste. In Senate Estimates last year it was revealed that NBN Mark II was conceived between Senator Conroy and the Prime Minister during two plane flights on Mr Rudd’s VIP jet” Senator Joyce said.

"The 'back of the boarding pass' approach to infrastructure selection must end. A Coalition Government will conduct and release cost-benefit analysis on infrastructure investments."

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# Lorikeet

Friday, May 07, 2010 10:45 AM

I don't think Rudd would be game to conduct a cost/benefit analysis of anything.

He can't build a school hall without builders rorting the system, can he?

He can't insulate a ceiling without electrocuting people or cremating them alive in their homes, can he?

From what Rudd said on TV about the NBN, I thought he didn't care whether people in remote areas had internet access or not.

I guess we can easily tack this onto the plan to implement an internet filter to selectively control what we can access via the internet.

Is this democracy in action? Or is it an attack on democracy which could be described as Information Control?

Information Control is the most powerful tool a destructive cult can use on its people. But it's also synonymous with a Communist Regime.

Why only have Reds under the beds, if you can also have Greens running the country?

This government has become like a watermelon. Green on the outside - Red on the inside. One good squish and borrowed money runs out in all directions.

# Patrick Pentony

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 6:13 PM

The Big problem with Krudds NBN is that to cover 90% of Australia's population you don't have to deliver to the towns. In fact if you look at the populations of Australia's 200 largest cities and towns they make up about 91% of the total population of Australia. So again it looks like under the NBN that if you live in a small town (under 10 000 in population) and are not in close proximity to a larger city it is most likely you will not be covered by the NBN.

But people living in small towns will still have to pay the taxes to cover the massive $40 Billion Bill, or even just the interest if the Gov ever manage to sell it.

Country Australians need to know weather they will be covered by the NBN. Towns like Braidwood, Bungendore and Cooma could easily miss out. They are all small enough not to matter but they are all in the bell weather seat of Eden Monaro, that is now held narrowly by Labor

# Lorikeet

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 6:56 AM

I think Labor is certain to lose at least one Senate seat here in Queensland, and plenty of others in the House of Representatives.

The roll out of NBN will certainly disadvantage people in remote locations. That's if anything much happens with it at all.

Rudd now has his thugs and henchman out filming Disability Support Pensioners, with the aim of cutting them off in order to pay for his increasingly long list of fiscal mistakes and fiascoes.

I think some doctors have had to put older unemployed people on DSP just so they can afford to eat. Unemployment benefits were not increased in the May budgets of 2009 and 2010.

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