It’s been an interesting 17 days, but Election 2010 is more or less officially over with the news that a coalition of Labor, the Greens and three independents will, at least for now, be in control of the Federal Government. Whether you’re ecstatic or despondent, breathe out and then get on with the rest of your life. To help that process, here’s some projects to fill your time now that you’re not following every political move on Twitter.
Tony Abbott has said he thinks it is “hugely implausible” that the speeds on the National Broadband Network could easily increase by a factor of 10 to the 1 gigabit per second maximum speed now being claimed by the NBN. For his benefit (and the benefit of confused voters), we’re here to explain in simple terms why such a scenario is plausible, even though it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get that speed directly into your house.
This morning’s announcement that the NBN will now offer speeds of up to one gigabit per second to the majority of Australian homes has ratcheted up the political broadband battle a notch. There’s now two clear options: a high-speed government-owned network under Labor, or a best-effort privately-funded network under the Liberals. Will voters care about the distinction?
We already knew that the Coalition was opposed to the NBN, but today it spelled out its alternative vision: essentially, spending a lot less money and leaving the job of offering increased speeds to the commercial sector. Is that enough to ensure that we’ll get decent broadband in the future?
The big tech topics in the election so far have been internet censorship and what will happen in the NBN, but there are other issues worth considering, such as local industry development and sustainability. There’s a debate hosted by the Australian Computer Society taking place at 1pm today between Senator Stephen Conroy, Shadow Communications Minister Tony Smith and Greens Senator Scott Ludlam to discuss all those issues, and if you’re anywhere near a computer you’ve got plenty of chances to catch it.
The news that the Liberal Party would block any attempts to introduce mandatory internet filtering has attracted much attention since it emerged yesterday afternoon. However, a lack of detail on what alternatives might be proposed, and the lurking question of what will happen to the NBN, mean that advancing the cause of technology with your vote is still difficult.
Just voting 1 above the line for your preferred party in the Senate means you don’t get to choose your preferences, but filling out all the numbers below the line is fiddly. The Below The Line site comes to the rescue, letting you customise your preferences and print out a guide to take along on voting day.
The dominant technology issue of the election so far has been internet filtering. However, an $18 million fine imposed on Telstra is a reminder that Labor and Liberal parties both have very different views of the telecommunications industry, particularly on whether we need the National Broadband Network.
