‘Chaos’ as NBN rolls out amid job losses, claims of poor work

Construction on the National Broadband Network is in “chaos” in Tasmania, unions have claimed.

Electrical Trades Union national secretary Allen Hicks, centre.

Construction on the National Broadband Network is in “chaos” in Tasmania, unions have claimed, amid signs contractors are using rogue operators to build the $41 billion taxpayer-funded project, leading to job losses, unpaid wages and poor-quality work.

Brisbane firm Qfibre, which this year was sacked by lead contractor Visionstream leaving workers owed almost $100,000 in wages and superannuation, was accused of being “ill qualified” for the job at the outset.

Visionstream told The Weekend Australian it ended its contract with Qfibre as a result of “health, safety and quality” concerns.

Qfibre is directly employed by NBN in the Northern Territory, raising concerns about governance on the project and due ­diligence over contractors elsewhere.

Qfibre paid workers through at least three companies registered in Brisbane and Darwin in the four months they operated in Tasmania. One payslip seen by The Weekend Australian shows workers were being paid by an unregistered company called Qfibre Labour until days before Visionstream cancelled Qfibre’s contract.

Visionstream has declined to comment on Qfibre’s arrangements with workers. It is understood to be withholding $1 million in payments to Qfibre.

The NBN yesterday said it would investigate “any concerns”.

However Electrical Trades Union national secretary Allen Hicks said the Qfibre issue raised wider issues of governance, with arrangements largely unregulated between subcontractors and companies.

“We’ve seen absolute chaos in the NBN rollout,” he said.

“There has been a stunning lack of oversight to ensure that companies comply with their obligations to workers and spend taxpayer funds prudently.”

He called for a federal government audit of the process.

Visionstream sacked 60 workers last week, taking job losses in the Tasmanian rollout to 160 in six weeks.

According to the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union’s Tasmanian secretary, Trevor Gauld, many of those sacked had been involved in connecting the network to homes, including digging trenches into hard rock, “notoriously difficult” work.

Visionstream said the job losses were a result of reaching an “advanced” stage of the project.

Qfibre representatives did not return calls.