The Albanese government’s big announcement on not privatising the NBN feels like it was answering a question that no one was asking.
was that retaining ownership of the NBN would enable it to keep wholesale prices more affordable.The community would be enormously interested if their broadband price was more manageable during a cost-of-living crisis. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland quotes its worth at $20 billion, saying that is the view of her department, but revealed no basis for this.But if either is compared against the $60-billion-plus that has been invested in its building, it’s an incredibly poor outcome for any government.It is arguably unsaleable for an attractive price, so putting it on the market is something of a moot point.
The larger problem in Albanese’s plan to retain this nationally important piece of infrastructure in perpetuity is how it will be treated in future on the government’s books.