Hi everyone,
well! It’s been a very busy week for news with respect to the National Broadband Network. I think it’s safe to say that everyone and their dog are currently weighing into the NBN debate following the release of the company’s second corporate plan yesterday.
I realise that I have already enlisted your help this week once in helping to conduct a fact-checking exercise with respect to an important NBN-related media release which Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and Finance Minister Penny Wong published yesterday. And I know that you all have a lot on your plate with your own work as well.
However, I hope you will forgive me for requesting your help on a second article this week which I would like to conduct another fact-checking exercise on. This article was written by Liberal MP Paul Fletcher and published on his site this morning. It is entitled; “NBN hopelessly behind targets”.
You might also like to refer to another, related article published by Fletcher yesterday. It is entitled: “What to look for in NBN’s soon to be released Second Corporate Plan – following its dismal underperformance against its first Corporate Plan”.
In the interest of maintaining a level of objective truth in the ongoing National Broadband Network debate, I would like to publish a fact-check analysis of Fletcher’s article next week. We will also be sending this fact-check analysis to Fletcher’s office to invite him to respond.
With this in mind, I invite the Delimiter community to help fact-check Fletcher’s article. Please read it carefully, and post in the comments below this article your view on which statements are accurate and which not. This will help us greatly in responding to this article. Please keep in mind our comments policy when doing so, and bear in mind that off-topic comments will be deleted, with no exceptions. Unfortunately no comments will be accepted from representatives of politicians or political parties at this time.
Note that we are seeking your views strictly on whether Fletcher’s comments are accurate: Not whether you agree with them or not.
Thank you for your help with this important exercise; your assistance is greatly appreciated. I know I am asking a lot of the Delimiter community this week, but it’s an important week in terms of the NBN debate, and I want to try to improve the quality of public debate around the NBN through this kind of initiative. Rest assured that your efforts in this regard are having an impact.
Kind regards,
Renai LeMay
Editor + Publisher, Delimiter
Image credit: Office of Malcolm Turnbull