NBN leakers are ‘thieves’, not whistleblowers, says Ziggy

35


news NBN chair Ziggy Switkowski has made an extraordinary intervention into the Federal Election campaign, defending the NBN company’s record under the Coalition and claiming insiders who have leaked senstive information of being politically motivated thieves and not whistleblowers.

A week and a half ago, AFP officers raided the Melbourne office of former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, and the house of at least one Labor staffer working for Shadow Communications Minister Jason Clare, in an apparent attempt to ascertain the identity of whistleblowers who have leaked a series of key documents from within the NBN company.

Over the past six months, Delimiter and a number of other media outlets have published a wide range of sensitive documents from within the NBN company.

The documents appear to provide hard evidence that the NBN company has suffered a range of problems with the Coalition’s controversial Multi-Technology Mix version of the NBN, ranging from cost blow-outs in Telstra’s copper network, to problems with Optus’ HFC cable network, to delays in getting the Fibre to the Node technology connected and more.

In many cases, the leaks have revealed information which the NBN company itself has been reluctant to disclose.

However, in an extraordinary article published in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday morning, Ziggy Switkowski — appointed as chair of the NBN by then-Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull — attempted to defend the NBN company.

Delimiter recommends readers click here to access the article.

Switkowski said that the leaks were “not” the action of whistleblowers, pointing out that the NBN company had an established internal whistleblowing process which had not been followed by the leakers.

“When dozens of confidential company documents are stolen, this is theft,” wrote Switkowski. “When they are the basis of media headlines and partisan attacks, they wrongly tarnish our reputation, demoralise our workforce, distract the executive, and raise doubts where there is little basis for concern.”

“The process is a form of political rumourtrage – the circulation of misinformation to diminish an enterprise for political gain.”

Switkowski also attempted to defend the NBN company’s record under his tenure, stating that its rollout was on track, and that its revenues would exceed plans.

“Contrary to media commentary, the documents did nothing to highlight poor management of the business,” wrote Switkowski.

“There are no “cost blowouts” or “rollout delays” to the publicly released plans – all one has to do is compare the data that is readily available. The documents show progress updates, options to ensure targets are met and ways to solve problems which are all normal parts of doing good business.  It’s simply wrong to diminish NBN’s performance, because such accusations are not supported in fact.”

Switkowski said the NBN company was “duty bound” to refer the leaking issue to the Australian Federal Police.

The NBN company has stood down two employees as a result of the AFP’s leaks investigation, although it is not clear whether the pair or anyone else has been charged yet.

“We make no apologies for acting in the best interests of the company, its shareholders, and ultimately the Australian taxpayers,” wrote Switkowski.

Image credit: NBN company

35 COMMENTS

    • As they should.

      I remember Renai getting very active about Mike Q just mentioning that 1Gbps was easily possible for FttP.

      This is magnitudes up the scale from that.

  1. Current government and nbn management has never acted in the best interests of US Australians. Only for their political ideologies. That’s why we’re in this MTM mess. We have a right to know what’s going on. They’re cowards for hiding behind CiC’s. Cowards

  2. Only because they’ve screwed up big time and don’t want anyone else but themselves knowing. New NBN management and new government please.

  3. Ooh, “violating” caretaker conventions. Don’t suppose there’s a law against that. Now we know why NBN media manager called B.S. on nonpartisan activity happening this election. Switzo is just aiming for a promotion.

  4. Thieves? So the jury has been delivered on the two nbn employers or has ziggy already judged, tried and juried the two?

  5. In the interests of tax payers bullshit. They blew all our money on faulty copper trash. So this in the interest of their money laundering schemes to Telstra and Murdoch.

  6. Only one word left really to describe this clown called Zwitkowski and his one man judge and jury:

    wanker.

  7. “the NBN company had an established internal whistleblowing process which had not been followed by the leakers.”

    There was a reason for the staff members not making use of this process.

    “there is little basis for concern.”

    So black is white.

    “Contrary to media commentary, the documents did nothing to highlight poor management of the business,”

    So black is white.

    “options to ensure targets are met and ways to solve problems”

    So he’s not denying there’s a problem?

    “It’s simply wrong to diminish NBN’s performance, because such accusations are not supported in fact.”

    When even the pro-MTM commentators here are questioning NBN’s performance, there’s a problem.

    “the Australian taxpayers”

    They aren’t involved, are they? The NBN is off-budget.

    • Yes, love that line about ‘internal whistle blowing process’. If it’s internal, it’s not whisle blowing, you ass.

      • +1

        Indeed. I had to do a double take on that one… Completely misses the point of “whistleblowing” =P

    • “the Australian taxpayers”

      Its off budget because its an investment (so should return a profit) of our funds and not a straight up cost like a road or hospital (which the latter in SA’s case still isn’t bloody open).

    • “They aren’t involved, are they? The NBN is off-budget.”
      Was off budget. They know something we don’t (officially).

      • I guess with the IRR dropping so much since SR13, they’ll never get private equity to invest and will be lucky to break even.

        So it’ll have to be brought back on the budget to get funded…

        • Just you watch too the LPA will blame Labor for it too no matter who’s in govt. at the time.

          Even if they go with more Fibre there’s still a large chunk of 2nd hand assets we purchased and I doubt any company can just write those off and stay with just using the black crayons :(

  8. Ziggy’s letter was interesting, but it appears a bit self serving and hyperbolic. Despite NBN being a legislated monopoly, perhaps he would be more persuasive if actual facts regarding the need for secrecy of the information that was leaked. Demonstrate the actual commercial disadvantage or national security implications.

    The outageous thing about the entire affair is the AFP raided a politicians office (and staffers home). I can understand if leakers at the company are investigated but going after receivers of the leaked material is futile, particularly after the information has been published.

    Like every other private company or government body, NBN should focus on having some staff that don’t leak rather than raiding people that are saying hurtful things about their pet project.

  9. Aren’t all whistleblowers thieves in order to blow the whistle? One cannot blow the whistle without evidence, and the evidence generally requires an act of thievery. The question is whether it was justified, and if the documents showed a difference between what’s being said internally at NBNCo and what’s being said externally to the public, then no doubt it’s justified. This wouldn’t necessarily be the case for a private company (the “public interest” would be a question for a judge), but that doesn’t apply to NBNCo because they’re paid by the Australian public.

    • Technically you cant steal IP because that implies it’s no longer in the originators possession, you can however copy IP and provide copies to others.

    • Reports state that the whistleblowers took photos of the documents – they aren’t even thieves, they infringed at worst.

  10. At what point does being a total dick become a criminal offense?

    Because writing an article saying that management doesn’t believe there is a problem therefore these people are thieves doesn’t exactly address the issue that the public is just a little bit concerned that budgets and timelines are nothing like what was promised and neither NBN or the government is providing much reassurance other than “Labor bad” and “trust us”.

    Plus Ziggy has been a dick for a long, long time and if he and Malcolm are on the same ticket you know that it doesn’t work out well for you.

  11. “… the circulation of misinformation to diminish a country for political gain.”

    Taken straight out of the Liberal Party playbook, executed with zeal by the NBN Co itself, then disingenuously spun as an attack on anyone critical of their behaviour. Sew the fear, uncertainty and doubt and you shall confuse the uneducated enough to get away with your deception; I think that’s how the teaching of the criminally corrupt goes…

  12. “There are no “cost blowouts” or “rollout delays” to the publicly released plans – all one has to do is compare the data that is readily available. The documents show progress updates, options to ensure targets are met and ways to solve problems which are all normal parts of doing good business. It’s simply wrong to diminish NBN’s performance, because such accusations are not supported in fact.”

    Really Ziggy? Your own data shows otherwise:

    https://twitter.com/DCoopes/status/735101684829933570

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-24/nbn-cost-blows-out-by-up-to-15-billion-dollars/6720878

    Is it just me, or do the Liberals just “say shit” and expect everyone to believe them??

    • Is it just me, or do the Liberals just “say shit” and expect everyone to believe them??

      It’s not just you. They do “say shit” and expect everyone to believe them, they expect it because there are just so many gullibles that actually do believe them. Surely you’ve noticed the comments here on Delimiter from the copper fanboy knuckle draggers Tinman ;-)

      • The conservatives still heavily subscribe to this propaganda principal:

        If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it

  13. So if Ziggy has a problem with this, he’d be all for a Royal Commission into the goings-on behind this company, correct?

  14. NBN has outsourced thousands of design and service jobs to overseas. “the Australian taxpayers” should have right to audit this public company.Outsource overseas relates to bribery and corruption. NBN managers become sugar daddy ,just hire local sweetheart to send workload to oversea.But thousands local excellent professionals lost job opportunity.

Comments are closed.