Displaying items by tag: Julia Gillard

When it comes to Governments, one never knows how far away tyranny will follow, with Australia's NBN promising to solve the country 'tyranny of distance' problem with a tyranny of debt.

Over the past month, it seems as if the National Broadband Network and NBN Co, the company charged with making it happen, have been hit by a cyclone. With its greatest champion, the federal government, on the ropes over a number of issues, can the NBN weather the storm?

Opposition leader Tony Abbott's suggestion that the NBN should be scrapped following Queensland's flood crisis has divided Australian opinion, a new survey shows.

The Gillard Government has started 2011 facing a barrage of criticism from the Opposition over alleged ties between NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley, CFO Jean-Pascal Beaufret and Alcatel, which won an $85 million contract with NBN Co last June.

With Julian Assange facing charges of rape and the Wikileaks site under attack, it's not surprising that the coverage has missed something significant. Information privacy is fast becoming a thing of the past.

House independents have voted with the Government to defeat proposed ammendments to telecommunications reforms put forward by shadow communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull.

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard has branded Coalition broadband policy that would create a wholesale-only company called CanCo and guarantee all Australians access to 12Mbps as "SlowCo," saying it would lead to less competition and slower speeds.

In an apparent shift from its pre-election position, the federal Opposition says it is generally supportive of proposed telecommunications regulatory reform, and has flatly rejected accusations that it is trying to block progress toward improved broadband services.

Telstra has called for the swift passage of telecommunications reforms introduced to Parliament today, legislation that includes provisions for the structural separation of the company.

Coalition calls for a full Productivity Commission cost-benefit analysis of the $43 billion National Broadband Network was simply a delaying tactic from an Opposition "determined to wreck" the project, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

Australia risked losing jobs to offshore markets if it failed to invest in the National Broadband Network as a critical piece of economic infrastructure, Julia Gillard has told Parliament.

Today Prime Minister Julia Gillard and IBM Australia and New Zealand Managing Director Glen Boreham announced a new global research and development lab to be based at the University of Melbourne, creating 150 jobs and tackling Australian national concerns. The NBN is cited as a major drawcard.

The Government will investigate the use of a variety of "pre-commitment" technologies, including the possible use of a biometric fingerprint, to help track and curb the losses of problem gamblers, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

The technology sector's profile got a big promotion within the Gillard Government when ACT Senator Kate Lundy was elevated into a Parliamentary Secretary role. It's in her nature these days, it seems, she takes the industry with her wherever she goes.

The Governor General Quentin Bryce;s administrative arrangements order issued with the swearing in of Ministers confirms the expanded role of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in the coordination of tech sector issues.

Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says the Snowy Mountains Scheme was given "rigorous analysis and public debate" over several years before construction began, and could not be compared to the National Broadband Network project as Julia Gillard claims.

With the announcement this week of the Gillard Cabinet and Tony Abbott's shadow ministry, we now know who the players are in what will be a hard-fought battle over the National Broadband Network implementation. But we have still to learn how the game will be played.

In a major boost for the sector, the Prime Minister Julia Gillard has signalled a hands-on role for herself in fostering "digital productivity," and appointed Stephen Conroy and Kate Lundy to assist her in the role.

In all the speculation about the likely make-up of the Gillard Cabinet, there is one sure thing: Stephen Conroy will retain the Communications portfolio. And that's a good thing for the sector, which will no doubt welcome the continuity.

The Australian technology sector will get its fibre-to-the-home National Broadband Network after the two remaining undecided rural independent MPs threw their support behind Julia Gillard and the ALP to form the next Federal Government.