Stop moaning, start thinking about broadband plan, says Dunne

United Future leader Peter Dunne says parties should quit attacking National's fibre-fed broadband plan and find answers of their own. Photo / Neil MacKenzie

United Future leader Peter Dunne says Labour, ACT and New Zealand First should stop attacking National's broadband plan and start coming up with their own answers.

National's leader, John Key, announced the plan on Tuesday, saying as prime minister he would put $1.5 billion into a public/private partnership that would link every home and business to the internet through a high speed fibre-optic network within six years.

Since then no other party has had a good word for it.

Communications Minister David Cunliffe said it would be a waste of public money and would entrench Telecom's monopoly.

NZ First said it would amount to a gift to Telecom - a company that had used its monopoly position to exploit customers, earned itself huge profits and failed to adequately invest in infrastructure.

ACT leader Rodney Hide said Mr Key was picking winners - just like National's "Think Big" policies of the past - and Telecom would become a state-sponsored monopoly.

But Mr Key says there would be a number of private players who would invest the rest of the money that would make up the total estimated cost of about $5 billion.

Mr Dunne said last night New Zealand needed a vastly improved broadband system, not another bout of political bickering.

"Surely the point is that widespread, superfast broadband is a good thing for the New Zealand economy and the only question is: how do we get there?" he said.

"It would be excellent if politicians spent more time working out the answer to that question and not simply whacking each other over the head and feeling they've accomplished something."

Mr Dunne said if direct government investment was not the answer, he wanted to hear two things from its critics.

"First, what is the alternative? Second, why has it not happened to date?"

- NZPA