Who killed the National Broadband Network?
My name is Nick Ross. Some of you may remember me from being the ABC’s Technology Editor who, “Championed the NBN on behalf of the ABC.” If you’ve never heard of me, you might be interested in my story if you have a passing interest in the NBN, Australian politics, the sorry state of Australia’s mainstream media, or are wondering how Australia has become the way it is. Indeed, the reasons for the downfall of the NBN mirror what simultaneously happened to Australia: the transition from fact to toxic politics and the move to a post-truth society.
The short story
My interest in the NBN first piqued in 2011 when Melbourne’s Royal Alfred Hospital did a telehealth demonstration that showed how healthcare could be much-better served with reliable internet. Of particular note was that NBN-related cost savings to the health budget could dwarf the NBN’s build costs on their own. At the time, the media narrative of this nascent policy was following predictable, ignorant, political lines. I wanted to change that.
Over the next three years I’d talk to nearly every relevant party that was involved in the NBN, from the politicians, to the people on the ground building it, the NICTA and
