NBN Co board resigns at Turnbull's request
Six of the NBN Co’s seven board members have offered their resignations, at the request of newly crowned Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Early reports of the resignations stated that all seven members of the board had offered their resignations to Turnbull.
But apparently that is not the case.
According to the latest reports, Turnbull asked the NBN Co board to resign last Thursday, the day after he assumed office.
A spokesman for Turnbull confirmed that the minister did indeed request the board members’ resignations.
On Friday, the board held a meeting at which the seven directors all agreed to stay on until they were replaced.
However, non-executive director Brad Orgill later changed his mind and decided not to resign.
The remainder of the board offered their resignations on Friday.
An AFR story claims that two of the board will be asked to stay on: non-executive directors Kerry Schott and Alison Lansley. One-time Telstra CEO Ziggy Switkowski will, as speculated, be appointed executive chairman.
Turnbull will add other directors to the board over time.
Initial reports said that Turnbull had not yet accepted the resignations and that a decision would be made at a cabinet meeting in early October.
But according to the AFR, the news stories about the resignations mean the new board could be announced this week.
NBN Co declined to comment on the apparent resignations.
Turnbull appears not to have spoken publicly on the resignations, but previously commented: “While I have no criticism to make of any of the individuals [on NBN Co’s board], it is remarkable that there is nobody on that board who has either run or built or been responsible for building or managing a large telecommunications network. And given that is the core business of NBN Co, that is a singular deficiency.”
Analyst Paul Budde said the resignations indicate the board doesn’t support the Coalition government’s NBN plan.
“It clearly shows that the current board doesn’t believe in the plans or, in any case, the information that we’ve got so far from the Coalition government on its form of the NBN,” he told the ABC.
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