Senate Estimates week always seems to bring a raft of stupidity as Senator Stephen Conroy and NBN Co chief Mike Quigley front up to answer questions about the network’s roll-out progress. This time around, however, the stupidity was reaching fever pitch with two stories that will have you headdesking before you can say fibre-to-the-home.
The first story that came out of Estimates was the news that the Senators had had a bit of a tiff in the chamber, with one accusing the other of being “brain-dead”, while another was accused of being drunk. Lovely.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever listened to the slurs shouted in House Question Time or even the arguments that go on in Senate Estimates, but this isn’t anything special. It’s certainly one of the more abusive instances of Senate Estimates, but it’s not as important as the actual news to come out of the session.
The second story — which, if you’re wondering, isn’t the one you should care about — is about the coffee machines NBN Co is installing in its offices. NBN Co said that the coffee machines are there so that staff don’t pop out for a coffee every now and then, costing productivity. I mean really.
The only real news that came out of this week’s hearings was the admission from Quigley that Syntheo — one of NBN Co’s major contractors working on the roll-out — had hit major delays which the NBN chief wouldn’t detail.