If the National Broadband Network ever gets finished health care for rural Australians will improve. The Abbott Government has sacked the NBN board. It has also began an inquiry. When will this end and real completion goals be set? The previous government made the mistake of not having goals. This is what led to its demise in the last election - it had lost its way on most issues.
An inquiry is seen as more "pussy-footing around". We need a clearly defined schedule. All major construction projects have dates set out for finalization of each stage. Why does the NBN have to be any different? Surely they know how much time it takes to lay "X" amount of fiber optic cable. This is the problem with monopolies: they consume time and money. Why not put stages out for competitive tenders? Surely real competition can get things moving.
The inquiry must come up with positive workable solutions. We cannot have another government mess up. Get rid of the bureaucrats. These are the expensive hangers on. Get private enterprise in on the job. Of course, the problem is - Has the Labor government locked us into unbreakable contracts? Getting out of these contracts could prove to be very expensive. However, something needs to be done, and fast!
Economics by Ty Buchanan
