NBN was fully aware of the asbestos factor, as was the Government and steps were taken to ensure safe remediation practices were in place.

The problem is that although all the correct sign-offs and awareness factors were in place right from the top of the chain, at the end of the line they were ignored by the sub-sub-sub contractors on site doing the work.

In some cases, those doing the work (such as a Nigerian immigrant in particular) could not read the work instructions or simply ignored them.

A senior member of Service Stream - the major subcontractor engaged by Telstra - has resigned. I suggest that implies where the blame starts.

I realise that some frenzied people like to put all sorts of partisan spins on things but it's getting ridiculous.

Why not look into Abbott's Ministerial history with regard to Telstra and asbestos?

Lucyface,

The very most important tool in the risk management pyramid is avoidance of doing the activity that creates the risk. The vast majority of Labor's version of asbestos fibre to the home work is in the small suburban pits getting the fiber to the homes by 2050. The coalitions plan reduces the cost and risk by >60% by using the last few hundred meters of copper will deliver fast broadband at a fraction of the price disturbing far far few asbestos pits, which is logically far safer.

As for your predictions of what the libs will do, it must suck to be wrong so often.

"The coalitions plan reduces the cost and risk by >60% by using the last few hundred meters of copper will deliver fast broadband at a fraction of the price disturbing far far few asbestos pits, which is logically far"

The coalition's plan will avoid the total cost and risk of the NBN by its real plan not doing anything at all, let alone fibre to the premises. At some point, a non-dinosaur government will resume the NBN and resume the risk associated with working with asbestos.

Meanwhile, if the LNP gets up, we'll be stuck with slow old copper and its high maintenance cost. In my street alone the copper lines are dug up three to four times a year because faults (due to water) are registered with Telstra.

Furthermore, on the Libs supposed NBN policy on its website (various Liberal.tv presentations with Turnbull) there is no mention of asbestos. So, the timeline and cost must include these, right, or have I over-rated Liberal prescience.

The LNP has latched onto asbestos as manna from heaven instead of articulating what it ever planned to do about it and where it is accounted for in costing and timing.

The LNP's use the 24 hour news cycle media desperation for a headline to make mountains from mole-hills rather than engaging in policy debate exposing them to scrutiny. It has never been so easy to be in opposition, especially when your friends own the commercial media.

I've just finished reading a tongue-in-cheek
satirical article that might lighten things up a bit
on the subject.

The author tells us that we now know that the
future of broadband is lined with asbestos.
As Shadow Minsiter tries to point out - it is
clearly part of the government's sinister
plot against the people. The author states
that the only way out is - vote Labor!

We all know that asbestos has been a vital part
of the industrial world. And as the author points
out it enabled enormous advances in the field
of whatever it is you do with asbestos. And it
is still a valuable tool, in the right hands.
And we're told the right hands happen to be
those that avoid using it or handling it in any way.

The author tell us that - yes, asbestos kills. He
asks - so, why did the government put it there?
Why would the ALP, a respectable political
organisation have planted loads of asbestos in
pits and ducts all around the country decades in advance
just so it could be dug up in 2013?
The answer is obvious - the government is trying to kill
us.

The author tells us this is serious. This is life and
death. They knew that they
would no longer be popular in 2013. As a warning -
they burnt down our
houses. They put carcinogens in our telephone
pits, before we were born. And we shouldn't think that
they won't climb through our bedroom windows and smother
us in our sleep. To save our country from having orphaned
children - we need to apease the government. And we can
only do that by keeping them in government.

Of course this will mean that Tony Abbott won't get to be
Prime Minister but as the author points out,
life is all about sacrifices.

Lucyface,

It might come as a surprise to you non engineering types, but copper is considered far more reliable than glass fiber, with lower installation and maintenance costs. Fiber is fragile, easily damaged, and difficult to repair. It also cannot carry any power, and telephone lines require a UPS at the user's end. So much so that fire and other emergency systems do not permit the use of fibre, and insist on a copper connection. That an NBN technician will have to come to every house every 5 years to replace the batteries is a huge maintenance cost that copper networks don't face.

If water is a problem, then it is usually due to damage to the cables which has not been adequately repaired. A problem for which fiber is not immune.

The reason that the FTTN does not have to take as much cognisance of the asbestos, it is because running the back bone cables in large ducts does not involve digging anything up.