Displaying items by tag: Senate Estimates

When politicians indulge in grandstanding on issues over which they have no control, the normal reaction is to ignore them and treat them with derision.

It's beginning to look like the Federal Government should avoid anything to do with technology following the revelation on Thursday that $70 million of taxpayers' money was spent on the COVIDSafe app – and only 17 cases were detected through its use.

The Australian Labor Party has labelled valuation claims of the national broadband network made by NBN Co chairman Ziggy Switkowski as bizarre and said no evidence has been produced to back up the price tag he has put on the company.

At last week's hearing of the joint standing committee on Australia's national broadband network, the NBN, Associate Professor Mark Gregory of RMIT University was repeatedly questioned about his political affiliations, after he had made a fairly robust opening statement.

The NBN Co pays its staff handsomely, figures revealed ahead of Senate estimates hearings last week show, with 8% of its 6044 staff taking home more than $200,000.

National broadband network builder NBN Co has killed off plans to offer a 100/40Mbps fixed-wireless service, with chief executive Bill Morrow confirming the decision at a Senate Estimates committee hearing.

The chief executive of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia expects the arrival of the national broadband network to its bases in remote areas to result in savings of millions of dollars based on recent deployments and a special rate for the Sky Muster service.

The Labor Party has questioned the government as to why the priorities and scope of the Broadband Performance Monitoring and Reporting programme appear to be constantly changing.

Internet Australia executive director Laurie Patton claims NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow used the cloak of parliamentary privilege to make false and defamatory remarks about him and IA at a Senate Estimates Committee.

Laurie Patton, the recently departed chief executive of Internet Australia, wants a public apology from NBN Co chief Bill Morrow over what he says was an “unprovoked attack” on IA in Senate Estimates hearings.