Government rejects NBN write-off call

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann is rejecting telecommunications entrepreneur Bevan Slattery's call to write off up to $30 billion of its investment in the NBN.

The federal government denies it will be writing-off its national broadband network. (AAP)

The federal government denies it will be writing-off its national broadband network, despite calls by one of Australia's most successful telecommunications entrepreneurs.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was responding to executive chairman of Superloop and Megaport CEO Bevan Slattery, who believes the majority of the coalition's $49 billion investment should be reclassified as a social rather than commercial investment.

"The government is not considering a writedown of its investment in NBN and there is no basis for such a writedown," Senator Cormann told the Australian Financial Review on Tuesday.