Malcolm Turnbull is to blame for $15bn NBN cost blowout

Malcolm Turnbull, has no one to blame but himself for the cost blowout of the national broadband network (NBN), Labor’s communications spokesman, Jason Clare, has said

The comments come after the extraordinary intervention of the former chief executive of the project, Mike Quigley, who has released data that he said exonerates NBN Co from Turnbull’s charge that the corporation’s financial and accounting systems were inadequate.

In August, Turnbull – then communications minister – released new costings which showed that the cost of implementing the network had blown out by up to $15bn.