Original article by Jamie McIntyre published in 21st Century News.

Before the last election a lot of people were championing the Labor government’s NBN plan as the best thing since sliced bread. They didn’t seem to care how much it cost taxpayers or whether or not it was value for money.

Undoubtedly, these types of voters either pay less tax than the average person or they simply don’t understand that a government should have fiscal responsibility or leave office.

I raised serious concerns over Labor’s NBN over the last couple of years.

I said it was a waste of taxpayers’ money and definitely not value for money. I also explained that not only would this plan be superseded but it would also take longer than necessary and blow out to over $70 billion.

I took this stand despite many criticisms and tweets on regarding my view on the matter, including the NBN Co that sent me emails trying to spin the issue.

I have always stated that we should have an NBN. However, we should have one that is built for $20-$25 billion at the most and built in half the time, unlike the $42 billion one that will now possibly increase to $70-$100 billion and is hopelessly behind schedule and a total disaster .

21st Century Australia’s policy was simple common sense.

Why don’t we start a NBN using the Pareto Principle i.e. the 80/20 rule?

That means we target the 20% that gets 80% of the results.

With the Pareto Principle we would have built a fast broadband network in the CBDs of metropolitan cities first to cater for 80% of the businesses in Australia and large sections of the population that live in or close to the CBD.

It would have been built for a fraction of the price and completed by 2014/15 or it could have been built already.

Moreover, most regional areas were only ever going to get satellite anyway, something that Labor failed to disclose properly. Moreover, at the initial stage we shouldn’t focus on areas that cost a lot and gain minimum return.

But having a bunch of socialists in power like we did in the last government that don’t care about other people’s money especially the taxpayers’ and think that debt is not something to be concerned about (this is why we will have a $400 billion debt not counting the NBN debt and one of the fastest rising debt levels in the world) simply think a NBN will sell voters at any price.

Well, Labor may have fooled voters that are yet to understand fiscal responsibility and are happy to have their votes bought and will go against the national interest for their own selfish benefits. However, they haven’t convinced those who actually care and refuse to support such a failed NBN strategy, which is a blatant waste of money.

Here is what is going to happen:

The $42 billion rising to $70-$100 billion will largely have to be written off as it will be valued at a fraction of its cost adding to our estimated 2016 debt of $400 billion.

Why?

Because other companies such as TPG are following the Pareto Principle and building a fast broadband network for a tiny fraction of the costs targeting the 20% areas that cover 80% of the businesses.

Why? Because doing so is smart business practice and they will have to be more resourceful as they are spending their money and shareholders’ money and have to be accountable unlike our previous government that didn’t care about taxpayers .

TPG and others networks will undermine the NBN model devaluing it greatly and rendering large sections of it worthless.

It was such a flawed NBN strategy that no private sector would invest into it as it was never viable and never will be. Therefore, Labor took taxpayers’ money without permission and poured most of it down the drain by refusing to do a cost benefit analysis as they knew it wouldn’t stack up but knew it was a vote winner regardless.

This explains why no analysis was done to check whether or not it stacked up. The overly ambitious roll out targets and uptake targets was always bullshit. They knew such targets were not realistic, yet they designed it to win votes before the last election.

Such economic incompetence shouldn’t surprise us coming from socialists like Gillard and Swan and Co who have now retired nicely on $8.1m and $5.6m equivalent in super once again raping and pillaging taxpayers .

Most of us won’t even use the NBN.

Why?

Because by the time it is rolled out we will already have fast broadband access from the private sector and as consumers we don’t or won’t wait for a second rate NBN that Malcolm Turnbull now has to somehow fix.

The fix could soon be to scrap it totally and encourage and support the private sector to build their own.

At least it would be a value for money NBN with no risk to the taxpayer.

For those of us who pay tax, such issues actually matter.

Therefore, Labor’s only piece of infrastructure is now looking like another failed policy. Even when Labor gets the right idea; they never can never seem to execute it properly.

Why should we even allow Labor to be an opposition party? They deserve to be and should be regulated to a minor party status that their lack of skill and incompetence deserve .

We need a new major party in this country to replace Labor.

We need a party that is economically responsible but also socially focused for the greater good of everyone.

That is why 21st Century Australia exists.

It provides Australians with a legitimate third party option and ensures that disenfranchised Labor voters who will never vote Liberal, now have a choice.

Jamie McIntyre is the Founder of 21st Century Australia Party and the CEO of the 21st Century Education Group of Companies. He is also a major shareholder in 21st Century Media, a Publicly Unlisted Company that owns assets including 21st Century News. www.jamiemcintyre.com

Jamie McIntyre is the Founder of 21st Century Australia Party and the CEO of the 21st Century Education Group of Companies. He is also a major shareholder in 21st Century Media, a Publicly Unlisted Company that owns assets including 21st Century News. http://www.jamiemcintyre.com

Author Bio: Jamie McIntyre is the Founder of 21st Century Australia Party and the CEO of the 21st Century Education Group of Companies. He is also a major shareholder in 21st Century Media, a Publicly Unlisted Company that owns assets including 21st Century News. www.jamiemcintyre.com

Category: Politics
Keywords: 21st Century Australia, Articles, election, labor, Pareto Principle, taxpayers, Jamie McIntyre