by the same token, lapdog, then when a government builds a railway line, then that should not be a part of the budget - after all, that is an asset - which results in fare paying passengers.. the same goes for the building of a dam - because water users will pay relevant fees.
ok - getting back to "the budget". when a company draws up a cash flow budget - everything is included - which will include items of capital expenditure, and general running costs.
anyway, back to the nbn. conroy has a thought bubble, and to get the idea into rudds head, he discusses the matter with rudd on a flight. compare this expenditure, with the planned expenditure of bhp, at olympic dam.
the expansion at olympic dam, will cost about $30bn, and will result in a 100 year mine life. bhp have not yet committed to the expansion - but it will be a big decission - and something that they have been working on for years.
lucky that conroy, is not in charge of a nationalized mining industry, because he would probably just go ahead with the expansion, without even thinking about it - after all taxpayer funds, are less important than shareholder funds.
bhp, have certainly made some blunders - taking over billiton, was one of those
