The NBN needs to remain “under the control of the elected government” as a national security measure, according to the Communication Workers Union.
The comments were made in a submission to an inquiry into proposed legislation aimed at preventing a future sale of NBN Co and/or its network assets.
The union said that Australia’s national security “increasingly rests on having a robust, accountable and secure national broadband network.”
The union pointed both to the digitisation of services – such as health and payments – but also the role that NBN connectivity plays in aiding “Australia’s security forces”.
“Essential defence communications and operational systems demand a secure, sovereign communications network, influenced by no foreign actors and under the control of the elected government,” the union said. [pdf]
“It is critical for our national sovereignty and security that this essential communications and transmission infrastructure is kept in public ownership, so that it is fully accountable to the Australian people through their parliament.”
Aside from security, the union noted that preventing privatisation would also likely mean more competitively priced broadband services over the long term.
It pointed to the trajectory of electricity prices since the 1990s as emblematic of the risks of privatisation, with increases tracking well above the consumer price index (CPI) over the period.
Similar price “hikes” and a “deterioration in service quality … would inevitably occur” if the NBN was privatised, the union argued.