Entire NBN board resigns




The board of NBN Co has offered to resign en masse, falling on their sword amid suggestions they do not have the confidence of the incoming government.      

The chairwoman Siobhan McKenna submitted her resignation to the Minister for Communications, Malcolm Turnbull, along with the rest of the board. Former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski is waiting in the wings to be appointed executive chairman.      

Kerry Schott is expected to be one of the only directors invited to stay on by Mr Turnbull, who has been highly critical of the board and the way the company has been run under the Labor government.




The resignations have not yet been accepted by Mr Turnbull. A decision is to be made at a cabinet meeting early next month. Mr Turnbull has blamed the board and executive team for the massive cost blowouts, timetable delays and for contractors losing money.


The board clear-out is the latest upheaval for Australia's largest infrastructure project and highlights the task facing Mr Turnbull as he moves to implement the Coalition's vastly different plan for the project.

NBN chief executive Mike Quigley saw the writing on the wall in July as polls indicated a landslide win to the Coalition and resigned suddenly after signing a new three-year contract with NBN Co.

Under Dr Switkowski three separate reviews and a forensic audit of NBN Co will be undertaken immediately to look at the ownership structure, which could include the private sector being invited to take equity to help fund the rollout.

NBN Co will switch from a fibre-to-the-home network to the cheaper fibre-to-the-node and fibre-to-the-basement network, which will require massive changes to contracts and relationships with contractors, Telstra and other networks.      

It will require a renegotiation of the Telstra/NBN deal to arrange copper access and compensation as well as redesigning the rollout.

Mr Turnbull, a long-time critic of NBN Co, has previously accused the project of being bogged down by infighting.

Following the resignation of Mr Quigley, Mr Turnbull turned his attention to Ms McKenna. He described her as having "no experience" in the telecoms sector and raised questions about whether her background as a management consultant qualified her to chair a network business. In July Mr Turnbull also hinted he might sack some board members.

Mr Turnbull's office declined to comment. Dr Switkowski could not be reached.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/entire-nbn-board-resigns-20130922-2u835.html#ixzz2fepXNBxV

excuse me... the board has no confidence in the incoming government 

We have heard it all now.

hey they may b e asked to justify their jobs.....ouch...what have they done since 2008?..... we do kn ow they fly here there and everywhere.. why is the problem?????

Armchair_Politician wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2013 at 7:40am:



I heard they had OFFERED to resign - not fully resigned as suggested in the OP.  The ball is in Turnbull's court now.  If they all resign, that is a lot of corporate knowledge to lose in one big hit -  that may put the project back many years

Vic wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2013 at 7:42am:

No great loss

Why would they want to bring back the least competent Telstra GM ever ????

The guy who made losses and supervised a share price going from just under $20 down to about $2.

Oh sorry that's right - looking after mates.

True Blue... wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2013 at 7:45am:


The nbn's greatest achievement has been to redefine the words INCOMPETANCE and WASTE

Nothing else. Its a slow motion train wreck coming to a town near you (sometime in 2017....for my outback inner Melbourne suburb that is)