Maori Party flight finally sinks broadband proposal

Te Tai Tonga MP Rahui Katene.

The Maori Party appears to have played a key role in the Government's about-face on ultra-fast broadband law, with Te Tai Tonga MP Rahui Katene confirming she had been negotiating the issue for two weeks.

Communications Minister Steven Joyce announced yesterday he was scrapping the law's controversial "regulatory holiday", which removed Commerce Commission oversight of the planned ultra-fast broadband network until the end of 2019.

The Government needed the Maori Party to pass the Telecommunications (TSO, Broadband and Other Matters) Amendment Bill after Labour, Act and the Green Party pulled support for it.

Katene said she never gave Joyce the ultimatum that the Maori Party wouldn't vote for the bill but said she was "sure that he was aware of that possibility".

Asked whether industry lobbying influenced her thinking, Ms Katene said it "cemented" her concerns about the Commerce Commission being sidelined. "We've had a lot of advice on this, we've had a lot of lobbying from industry and consumer groups. There's been a lot of people coming into my office, particularly TelstraClear."

Katene said Joyce had agreed to the change last week, but it was not revealed earlier because of "commercial sensitivity".

Joyce denied he buckled to industry pressure.

He said the replacement for the regulatory holiday came from government officials and was different to the model being proposed by the opponents of the broadband legislation.

"If you can come up with something that allays [industry] fears, but still achieves the outcomes, then why not do it?"

Labour's Clare Curran said, "His broadband scheme's flaws are exposed and there's more coming."