Coalition wastes more time and money on smear campaign

The Coalition has forced NBN Co to commit tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money to respond to a futile and malicious smear campaign against CEO Mike Quigley, the Minister for Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy said.

Senator Conroy said the Senate Estimates hearing last night again vindicated Mr Quigley and proved he had not been involved in any wrongdoing at Alcatel-Lucent.

“Mike Quigley has been the victim of an appalling smear campaign and the evidence provided to the Senate Estimates hearing last night should end this matter once and for all,” Senator Conroy said.

“As Mr Quigley explained yet again in a detailed statement to the Senate Estimates hearing, he was never involved, never investigated and never questioned about the corrupt activities of his previous employer.

“Last night’s Senate Estimates hearing generated no new evidence that Mr Quigley had anything to do with the wrongdoing of Alcatel-Lucent in Central America seven years ago.

“The Coalition wasted the vast majority of the four hours of Senate Estimates time allocated to NBN Co, by attempting to re-litigate a five year investigation by the US Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission which cleared Mr Quigley of any wrongdoing.

“The Coalition spent just 17 minutes on the rollout of the NBN, including questioning the priority given to regional Australia.

“The Coalition are hypocrites. They demand detailed answers and then complain about the cost of preparing them.”

Date: 17 June 2011
Contact: Lyall Johnson 0408 258 457