News

• yARN: Is Turnbull just a little bit of history repeating?

  By David Ramli | 08 October, 2010 19:06

  When Malcolm Turnbull emerged from the post-election Coalition reshuffle as our new Shadow Communications Minister, the tech industry breathed a collective sigh of relief. But despite early hopes for a fresh start and new approach, he’s mostly delivered more of the same.

• Coalition broadband expert, Paul Fletcher, retains key advisory role

  By David Ramli | 23 September, 2010 13:34

  Former Optus executive and Liberal MP, Paul Fletcher, remains a key advisor to the Coalition on broadband, despite his role in helping craft its controversial policy during the election campaign.

• Conroy: Turnbull knows dial-up, not broadband

  By Spandas Lui | 16 September, 2010 10:26

  Newly appointed Shadow Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has experience in the dial-up business, not the broadband industry, according to Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy.

• Updated: It's Turnbull versus Conroy as Smith dumped from Shadow Communications portfolio

  By David Ramli | 14 September, 2010 15:22

  Shadow Communications Minister, Tony Smith, has been dumped from his role and replaced by former opposition leader, Malcolm Turnbull.

• Gillard promises independents Quigley briefing

  By Renai LeMay | 26 August, 2010 09:08

  The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has invited the group of three returning independent MPs to meet directly with NBN Co chief executive, Mike Quigley, as the trio continue to push for more information about Labor's National Broadband Network policy.

• Communications high on list of demands from Independent MPs

  By David Ramli | 25 August, 2010 17:44

  The three independent MPs that could choose which party takes control of the country have demanded a meeting with the secretary of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Peter Harris.

• Government under fire from independents over $43 billion NBN price tag

  By David Ramli | 25 August, 2010 13:25

  The Labor Government is set to get intense scrutiny over its $43 billion National Broadband Network with key independent politician, Tony Windsor, singling it out as having a ‘fictitious’ cost.

• yARN: Election 2010 - The final countdown for tech

  By David Ramli | 20 August, 2010 12:19

  When it comes to technology, the Coalition has failed to effectively sell its policies as a strong vision for Australia’s future. Fortunately for them, it probably won’t matter when the nation votes tomorrow.

• YARN: NBN a pipeline to political parsimony

  By Mike Gee | 13 August, 2010 15:32

  In science, parsimony is preference for the least complex explanation for an observation. Applied to the current election campaign, the NBN, filter and tech, it probably is as simple as: Abbott is incredibly ignorant; Smith is faking it, badly; Robb is faking it, better; Conroy acts, and acts, and acts; Gillard is probably less ignorant than Abbott, but only slightly; Quigley has knowledge - but would you trust him?.

• NBN Co rejects Coalition’s ‘talentless’ cheap shot

  By Renai LeMay | 11 August, 2010 19:43

  Senior NBN Co executive, Kevin Brown, has used an internal company-wide email to reject the Coalition’s slur that it will be unable to find high-quality staff and is a “stodgy government bureaucracy”.

• Industry very worried about Coalition’s broadband

  By David Ramli | 11 August, 2010 10:14

  Industry bodies are worried about the Coalition’s broadband policy, with Australian Computer Society (ACS) CEO, Bruce Lakin, giving it a fail mark.

• Conroy slams coalition broadband plan as a ‘failure of imagination’

  By David Ramli | 10 August, 2010 21:03

  Communications minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, has labelled the Coalition's plan as a 'failure of imagination' and slammed its proposed technology as second-rate as the Australian Greens maintain its support for the NBN.

• Abbott is a Luddite, says Conroy

  By Renai LeMay | 10 August, 2010 17:23

  Communications Minister Stephen Conroy this afternoon opened fire on Tony Abbott, labelling him a “luddite” for not having appearing to have anything to do with his party’s technology policies, on a day in which the Canberra press gallery also criticised the Opposition Leader on the issue.

• Coalition policy “a blast from the past”, says Conroy

  By Renai LeMay | 10 August, 2010 14:52

  Both the Labor and Greens parties this afternoon opened fire on the Coalition’s rival broadband policy revealed this morning, in an ICT sector election debate that at times saw Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and his shadow Tony Smith at each others’ throats.

• Coalition: Australians will get 12Mbps or more if they win

  By David Ramli in Canberra | 10 August, 2010 12:30

  The Coalition reveals $6 billion rival broadband policy to Labor’s National Broadband Network project. The central planks are a competitive backhaul network, regional and metropolitan wireless networks and an ADSL enrichment program that will target telephone exchanges without ADSL2+ broadband.