Demands for Conroy to release NBN plan

The Federal Government is under renewed pressure to provide tougher scrutiny of its National Broadband Network (NBN).

While the opposition pushes for a Productivity Commission analysis of the $43 billion project, the Australian Greens are demanding the government release the network's business plan before parliament rises for the long summer break.

The coalition has yet to win the support of key lower house MPs for a cost-benefit analysis of the network, but it may be a different story in the Senate.

Greens communications spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam, said his party would seek Senate support for a demand that Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, produce the network's 400-page business plan that he received last week.

"I think they have an obligation to put that material in the public domain while parliament is sitting, not afterwards," he said.

Senator Ludlam also wants the government to produce its formal response to an earlier implementation study.

"We'll be demanding the minister table both of those documents before the end of this week," he said.

Opposition communications spokesperson, Malcolm Turnbull, is expecting his push for a cost-benefit analysis of the network will go to a parliamentary vote this week.

But it's not clear whether the coalition has sufficient support from the crossbench at this stage.

"We continue our discussions with the independents and they'll make their decision when it comes up to the vote," Turnbull said.

Later, he jumped on suggestions by Senator Conroy that a cost-benefit analysis would delay construction of the network.

The inquiry could be completed in six months and could happen as building of the network continued, Turnbull said.

"It would not put a break on any of the experimental demonstrations site that are being rolled out," he said.

"The PC (Productivity Commission) inquiry would not have any impact on the rollout at all."

Independent senator Nick Xenophon says the business plan must be released as "a matter of urgency".

"It's not fair to expect the Senate to vote on a $43 billion piece of information infrastructure in a complete information vacuum," Turnbull said, noting that the Productivity Commission should also look into it.

"But it [inquiry] needs to be broader than Malcolm Turnbull's terms of reference."

Key country independent, Bob Katter, said he won't hold up the government's legislation by asking to see the business plan.

"The opposition... wants close scrutiny... but I'm not holding up the rollout of broadband - no way.

"I think we should get building broadband as fast as humanly possible."

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