What The Budget Means For Gadget Fans

11:31AM May 14, 2008 | Nick Broughall

Last night K-Rudd unleashed his government’s first federal budget. It was riveting stuff for anybody even remotely interested in what kind of economics are involved in planning the finances for an entire country.

Considering I struggle to balance my household budget, the chances of me paying attention to last night’s events were slim. However, our good friend Angus was kind enough to sort through all the boring bits about childcare and health, and come up with a down-to-earth guide of the important technology bits for APC.

In a nutshell, broadband was a big focus for the government, with the promise of $270.7 million to bring everybody a decent level of broadband by 2012. There’s also a focus on making the interwebs safer for kiddies, with $125.8 million for “cyber safety measures”. So long as it doesn’t involve a free filter with a massive marketing campaign, that’s fine by us.

Schools will get more funding, the ACMA will get some cash to develop some VoIP regulations, and the switchover to digital TV’s going to get some cash. But for the full rundown, check out APC.

[APC Mag]

Dean

May 14, 2008 at 2:51 PM

What about the changes to the FBT exemption and depreciation on laptops and PDAs – no more free laptops funded by the taxman! And the depreciation on software is now 4 years instead of 2.

Attila

May 14, 2008 at 4:58 PM

Yeah, how could he miss:

a) no salary sacrifice for laptops which aren’t primarily for work use; and

b) no future depreciation allowed on laptops already salary sacrifice.

dave

May 15, 2008 at 6:53 AM

I suspect there is going to be a real drop in demand for notebooks/PDAs after the change to FBT.
Speaking my myself, it’s now cheaper to buy things in the US when I’m over there.