After the high drama that was the 2010 Australian Federal Election, things are starting to settle down into a sense of normality. Well, as normal as you can get with a minority government, anyway. But the news relevant to technogeeks like yourselves is that filter-loving and NBN-dishwasher creator Senator Stephen Conroy still has his BCDE portfolio, while across the floor on the opposition side, Malcolm Turnbull has risen up as his new political nemesis.
Turnbull was a loud voice in the opposition’s election campaigning on matters of IT, and given his history as one of the founders of OzEmail, his words are going to hold a lot more than those of the completely ineffectual Tony Smith, who held the shadow role before him.
But Turnbull’s already come out swinging against the NBN. Given that national broadband was one of the main election issues, and one of the key reasons the independents sided with Labor to form a minority government, it’s an interesting approach from the opposition. But it’s certainly going to make the next 18 months an interesting time for techno-politics.
Oh, and Kate Lundy, the MP we campaigned so hard for to take over from Conroy, is now advising the PM on matters of Digital Productivity. While that doesn’t necessarily sound like a lot, the emphasis this government seems to be placing on technology is a huge step forward.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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