The Government has missed the deadline for a Senate order for the production of the $25 million KPMG / McKinsey National Broadband Network Implementation Study.

The suppression of the only independent analysis of the much-hyped $43 billion project will further erode confidence in the Government's plans for sweeping telecommunications reform.

The Australian Greens are deeply concerned the Commonwealth Government is pursuing plans to privatise the new National Broadband Network Company within five years of it being built.

"I am dumbfounded as to why Communications Minister Stephen Conroy would build a company from scratch at such enormous public cost to then sell it down automatically," said Greens Communications Spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam.

"It sets us up for a repeat of the Telstra privatisation mess that we're still trying to clean up."

Senator LUDLAM-I gather we are getting very short of time because we are now meant to be dealing with the department in total in under an hour, so I have just got one question which is to the minister on the implementation study. I am also being caught by surprise, in perhaps the same way that Senator Macdonald has, that you are reserving the right to keep that document from the public.

Senator Conroy-I have never indicated that it would be released.

LUDLAM, Senator Scott, Western Australia25.48 pmLudlam, Sen ScottI07Western AustraliaAG00Senator LUDLAM (Western Australia) (5.48 pm)-I just want to add a couple of comments to those of Senator Minchin and Senator Lundy, having had a little bit of time to examine the work that the Auditor-General has produced. As always, it is a valuable if carefully worded insight into the process. The public was given very little insight into the original RFP that occurred, starting at the beginning of 2008.

The Australian Greens remain deeply concerned the Commonwealth's planned National Broadband Network will repeat the privatisation mistakes of Telstra, and lock many Australians out of the new digital age.

A Senate Select Committee report tabled today reaffirms Labor's intention to build the NBN with a huge investment of public funds, and then privatise it all over again after five years.

Senator LUDLAM-We were there the week before last and heard from a group called Digital Tasmania.  It is a small business IT consumer group. It told the select committee that 96 per cent of the network's backbone in Tasmania would be via overhead cables. If there are photographs of trenches being dug they are somewhere in the four per cent. Are you able to confirm that?

Senator Conroy-I am happy to be advised by the Tas NBN Co. board, rather than a gentleman who has no understanding of the engineering design that is going-