Labor fights off Turnbull over abestos THE federal government has accused the opposition of playing politics over a series of asbestos scares at national broadband network (NBN) sites around the country. Parliamentary question time was dominated on Monday by coalition questions about asbestos, with communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull heading a campaign to force Labor to take full responsibility for asbestos exposure risks from Telstra pits and ducts being used by the network builder, NBN Co. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott kicked off by asking Prime Minister Julia Gillard if $50 million in government money spent advertising the $37.4 billion project could have been better used to ensure communities were protected from asbestos. "This is a matter involving pits and ducts, and those pits and ducts are the responsibility of Telstra," Ms Gillard told parliament. The leader of the opposition well knows that, but has chosen to play politics with this important matter. Workplace minister Bill Shorten, who took all of Mr Turnbull's questions, said it was too serious a matter and should be above politics. "Asbestos should not be a political football," he told the lower house. However, Mr Turnbull continued his pursuit, asking Mr Shorten if he had paid the right amount of attention to the issue and when he knew there might be a problem. Last week, contractors and communities raised fears they could have been exposed to asbestos after the deadly material was uncovered during work on sites managed by NBN Co. Asbestos was found at a Telstra pit in Penrith in Sydney and further discoveries have been made at telecommunications works in Ballarat, Perth, Adelaide, Tasmania and Queensland. Mr Shorten, who did not become workplace minister until 2011, said he had written to Telstra in March 2009 asking about asbestos issues and had been told the company "had matters under control." Then we have seen in recent days and weeks ... clearly they haven't. Mr Shorten later touted the Labor movement's record in dealing with asbestos - a reference to a successful union campaign against builder James Hardie - saying the Liberals were "carrying on about who knew what, when." "The rubbish has to stop," he told reporters. The asbestos debate came after the federal coalition expressed its support for Ms Gillard's decision to set up the administrative headquarters of the national disability care scheme in Geelong, Victoria, where jobs are being lost due a decline the car manufacturing industry. Also on Monday, the coalition called off plans to move a promised no-confidence motion against the government after independent MPs said they wouldn't support it. Manager of opposition business Christopher Pyne last week wrote to crossbench MPs to gauge support for the motion, which could have resulted in the federal election being brought forward to August 3 from September 14.