Abbott "not a tech head" on broadband

Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott was last night unable to explain how the Coalition's broadband policy was technically possible, deferring questions on the subject because he was "no Bill Gates" and would lose a technical argument.

Appearing on the ABC's 7:30 Report, Abbott faced a well-prepared presenter Kerry O'Brien, who repeatedly sought basic information on how the Coalition would make good on its broadband promise of 12 Mbps peak speeds to most Australians.

"Just as the Prime Minister says, I say as well that I'm no Bill Gates here and I don't claim to be any kind of tech head in all of this," Abbott said.

"But we are going to have broadband running past 97 percent of households and, yes, we're not guaranteeing 100 megabits, but we are guaranteeing upwards to 100 megabits."

O'Brien grilled Abbott on his promise of "peak speeds", even explaining what they were to try and elicit a response from Abbott.

"Again, if you're gonna get me into a technical argument, I'm going to lose it, Kerry, because I'm not a tech head. But we are offering 12 and up and we think in the vast ...," Abbott began.

"Well... can you really give that guarantee when you don't seem to know what peak speed is," O'Brien responded.

"Well, Kerry, I take your point: that if you want to drag me into a technical discussion here, I'm not gonna be very successful at it," Abbott said.