5.47 For transport, water and energy infrastructure, the Nation‐building Funds Act 2008 requires that payments not be made from the Building Australia Fund unless the relevant Minister has obtained advice from Infrastructure Australia. Advice must also be obtained from Infrastructure Australia in relation to communications infrastructure, except where the infrastructure relates to the National Broadband Network. Rather, the legislation permits National Broadband Network payments to be made from the Building Australia Fund without the Communications Minister having obtained advice from Infrastructure Australia.
5.48 Consistent with this legislative background, the Office of the Infrastructure Coordinator's screening of projects submitted as candidates for the Interim Priority List required that any initiatives in the telecommunications sector that could be delivered via the implementation of the National Broadband Network were to be excluded from the evaluation. In December 2009, the Office of the Infrastructure Coordinator advised ANAO that the National Broadband Network project had not been submitted to Infrastructure Australia for assessment under the Infrastructure Priority List process.
5.49 Nevertheless, in considering the Office of the Infrastructure Coordinator's proposals for the Interim Priority List, at its 1 December 2008 meeting, the Infrastructure Council had agreed that 'the national broadband initiative was a genuine national building project'. Accordingly, the Interim Priority List published on 19 December 2009 included, under the theme 'a national broadband network' a statement that:
Infrastructure Australia supports the investment of $4.7 billion from the Building Australia Fund to develop the National Broadband Network.157
5.50 As outlined in ANAO Audit Report No. 20 2009-10, The National Broadband Network Request for Proposal Process, the procurement process in relation to the Government's commitment to make a public equity investment of up to $4.7 billion was terminated on 7 April 2009. In this respect, the Final Priority List published in May 2009 stated that:
Infrastructure Australia supports an investment from the Building Australia Fund to develop the National Broadband Network.158
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157 Infrastructure Australia, A Report to the Council of Australian Governments, December 2008, p. 64.
158 Infrastructure Australia, National Infrastructure Priorities: Infrastructure for an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future, May 2009, p. 13.