Asked if Labor would allow the current board and management to oversee its proposed rollout plan, communications spokesman Jason Clare said: "We won't make a decision about that before the election. NBN's NG-PON2 fibre trials promise to benefit all NBN users, not just those relying on fibre to the premises. Credit:Glenn Hunt "I have been focussed on fixing the mess that Malcolm Turnbull made." But Labor sources said the party has little faith in many of the "lackeys" Mr Turnbull brought into the organisation. Mr Clare in the past blasted the appointment of NBN chairman Ziggy Switkowski, board member Justin Milne and senior executive JB Rousselot as "jobs for the boys".

Labor has particularly targeted Mr Rousselot, NBN's chief network operations officer, as Mr Turnbull's "yachting buddy" given the former colleagues own a boat together. Shadow Trade Minister Jason Clare with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Tensions between the party and NBN management intensified last month when Australian Federal Police officers raided the office of Senator Stephen Conroy and home of a Labor staffer following a referral by NBN over leaked documents. Labor later accused Dr Switkowski of breaching election rules by penning a strident opinion piece in which he defended the company's decision to call in the police. Mr Clare in the past blasted the appointment of NBN chairman Ziggy Switkowski (pictured), board member Justin Milne and senior executive JB Rousselot as "jobs for the boys". Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Turnbull on Monday said Labor's claim it would roll out its version of the NBN at the same time and virtually the same cost as the government was fanciful. "The truth is that Labor completely mismanaged and bungled the NBN," he said. "It was a hopelessly failed project until we took over, until we put in new management, allowed them to develop a new business plan and execute it. "We connected more premises to high-speed broadband with the NBN in the last month than Labor did in six years." Mr Clare said residents in suburban areas such as Penrith and regional areas such as Lismore would benefit the most if the copper rollout was ditched for full fibre.

Under Labor, 39 per cent of homes would be connected to fibre-to-the-premise compared to 20 per cent under the Coalition. "It's 21st century Australia and Malcolm Turnbull's rolling out 19th century technology," he said. "Fibre to the node is not going to cut it in the long term." Labor has said it would continue the Hybrid Fibre Coaxial rollout of the NBN - which delivers broadband through former pay TV cables bought from Telstra and Optus - because it is a superior technology to fibre-to-the-node. It estimates the rollout would be completed by 2022 at a cost of $57 billion, $1 billion more than it estimates for the Coalition. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield rubbished these estimates, saying the Coalition would complete the NBN for $49 billion by 2020.