THE DAILY CHART: The NBN's gospel truth?

Finally, the NBN's holy text has been unveiled. According to the government's estimates, Australia will be paying a "minimum" $27.5 billion for a project that will be EBITDA positive in 2018, EBIT positive in 2020 and will have paid itself off by 2033. Of course all this hinges on the rate at which Australians switch over to the NBN and how much they will pay for the services. If you believe the government's estimation that 7,845,000 premises will have been signed up by 2020, spending at least an average of $52 per month, you're an NBN believer. If you don't, you're an NBN atheist, and the divide is appropriately tribal.

Whether you're an NBN believer or not, all onlookers can share a sense of bewilderment or disappointment at the way a grand nation building project has been carried out – the kind that once upon a time could have instilled a sense of national pride. As Alan Kohler observes, the project has effectively been reverse engineered with the government telling NBN Co they must produce an internal rate of return of 7 per cent and: "Hey presto! The projected IRR for the NBN is 7.04 per cent." Or, as Stephen Bartholomeusz points out, that "minimum" $27.5 billion needs to be balanced against the peak funding requirement of $40.9 billion.