Waleed Aly skewers Malcolm Turnbull over NBN rollout

WALEED Aly ripped into the PM on The Project last night, taking aim at Mr Turnbull’s so-called “mongrel network”.

WALEED Aly has taken aim at the so-called “man who virtually invented the internet in this country” — aka Malcolm Turnbull — calling out the Prime Minister over the Federal Government’s delivery of the NBN in his “age of innovation”.

During Wednesday night’s ‘Something We Should Talk About’ segment, The Project co-host brought up the delayed rollout of the network which will deliver a slower speed than Labor’s, despite increased costs, to the tune of about $10 billion.

“First, Malcolm Turnbull invented the internet in this country as much as I invented longwinded TV rants in this country. We didn’t invent it but we don’t mind accepting praise from people who think we did,” he said, poking fun at his recent Gold Logie nomination.

“Second, his plan might not be as amazing as Tony would have us believe.”

The panel member skewered the Coalition over its “mongrel network”; its inferior structure, as leaked documents have revealed significant delays to the Government’s rollout.

“The Abbott/Turnbull Government has never demonstrated that they value the need for high-speed internet, which is ironic because Tony Abbott is the only human to have ever had buffering issues in real life,” Aly said, taking a stab at the former PM and his infamous mind blank.

“Leaked documents seem to reveal the Government’s NBN rollout is behind schedule and the reason why that is is a worry, as it’s not only that it could be late, but it’s an NBN not all of us want.”

Aly’s comments come in the wake of the State of The Internet report produced by US content delivery network provider Akamai, which showed Australia has slipped to 60th in the global rankings in terms of average peak internet speed — considered to be crucial measurement in broadband performance. The poor ranking represents a continued slide, compared to the nation sitting in 30th spot when Turnbull held the post of Communications Minister just a few years ago.

“By turning the NBN into a political football, Australia’s global rankings for internet speed has slipped from 30th a few years ago, to this week being ranked 60th in the world,” Aly said.

“So if you are watching this right now on the internet, and you had to wait for even a second for this video to buffer, you know who to blame — Tony Abbott and the guy who he says invented the internet.”

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Mick Tsikas/AAP