Malcolm Turnbull has faced waves of criticism before he has even been able to sit at his new desk.

The man who will most likely be announced as federal Communications Minister some time soon has been accused of ignoring the massive outcry from the Australian public over the Liberal Coalition’s National Broadband Network policy.

Media outlets around the world have picked up the story of a petition launched on change.org less than two weeks ago, which has since leapt up to just under 245,000 supporters. Communications Minister-elect Malcolm Turnbull said of the petition in a post last week: “Democracy? I don’t think so,” after also railing against it and its founders’ motives and timing.

The Liberal plan will see the installation of fibre-optic cabling as far as local nodes (called fibre to the node, or FTTN), as has been successfully deployed in several countries, but is being criticised for its limited potential upload speeds. Proponents of the previous, faster and more expensive Labor model say the new idea is short-sighted, and would require upgrades and replacement to remain competitive soon after it is completed. Industry experts have also raised concerns over whether the FTTN plan is technically possible and will adhere to the Coalition’s current claims.

Turnbull has now angrily responded to a University of Queensland lecturer who recently composed an article on the potential failings of the Coalition NBN plan.

Turnbull suggested UQ lecturer Sean Rintel “would disgrace any of his students” with comments made in a blog post on the internet community’s uprising over NBN policy. A statement from Malcolm Turnbull said: “Nobody who read that... could have honestly or rationally come to that conclusion. Indeed I described the strategic review and cost benefit analysis of the project and the technologies available to complete as being ‘vital for the public to be fully informed’.”

Mr Turnbull seemingly considers redirecting the petition founder to the government’s online policy documents is an adequate response to hundreds of thousands seeking a better plan.

“Far from ignoring or rejecting the petition I have responded to it. I have also had a discussion with Nick Paine the instigator of the petition. He asked me a number of questions about our policy. I answered them and referred him to our policy documents and FAQs on my website which I encourage him and others interested in the issue to read. I have discussed our policy in numerous forums – in the media, at public meetings, on the web,” his statement said.

The issue is set to continue as the new federal government is sworn into office and begins to roll out its national telecommunications upgrades.