28 April 2003 - Media Release

Canberra Raiders on top of table, but not on TV

Congratulations to the Canberra Raiders for their top of the table performance over the Canterbury Bulldogs on Saturday night, before a record crowd of 19,372.  Yet it is a disgrace that the prize for being at the top of the ladder and in great form is the continuing TV blackout on Raiders matches.

Once again Canberra fans have been dudded by Channel Nine, which clearly does not reward merit when deciding which teams to screen on free to air television.   

Even though the Raiders are at the top of the NRL ladder, and in great form, Channel Nine has still not scheduled a single Raiders match to broadcast, meaning Canberra fans will not see a game on free to air until after Round 11 at the earliest.

In fact by round 11 the free to air broadcast tally will look like this; Roosters 7 games, Newcastle 6 games, Parramatta 5, Bulldogs 5, Brisbane 5, Sharks 4, Warriors 3, Dragons 3, South Sydney 2, Penrith 1, Manly 1 game and Canberra – NIL!

The fact that a top of the table outfit like the Raiders continues to get the rough end of the stick – along with other regional teams such as the North Queensland Cowboys – demonstrates that TV networks are only interested in serving the needs of big population centres like Brisbane and Sydney. 

It would appear there is a theme developing; not only in the coverage of  NRL but the continuing lack of consistent AFL coverage in Canberra is again rearing its ugly head.  Canberra did not even receive a direct telecast of the Sydney v Melbourne Anzac Day match on free to air.

What a shame that Canberra fans of all football codes are not getting the football coverage on free to air Television they rightly deserve. 

It is not just Canberra residents who would like to see match ups against top team Canberra Raiders on free to air television.   I am sure there were many disappointed Bulldogs fans that missed a nail biting game on Saturday night because of Channel Nine’s timetabling ignorance.

28 April 2003 - Media Contact:  Adina Cirson - 0418 488 295 or 6277 3334

24 April 2002 - Media Release

Alston caught napping as broadband project under-funded

The Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, has once again been caught asleep at the wheel, as an important regional broadband project has been left under-funded by the Federal Government and Telstra.

The Launceston Broadband Project was a $30 million project announced in 1999 and jointly funded by the Commonwealth and Telstra. However, today’s hearing of the Senate Inquiry into the Australian Telecommunications Network revealed that after four years only $8.5 million has been spent.

Of this amount, only 40% (around $3.4 million) has been spent by Telstra - just a fraction of its $15 million commitment. This follows on from previous criticisms that Telstra hamstrung the project right from the start, by failing to market it adequately.

It is disgraceful that such a worthwhile, viable project has been so neglected by the Howard Government and by Telstra.

The local ICT industry also expressed dissatisfaction with the management of the project claiming that the project has provided little or no assistance to local industry development, despite this being a key element, a claim that the local Management of Telstra’s E-Lab did not refute.

This latest revelation is yet another example of the Minister Alston’s failure to take any interest in the provision of broadband throughout regional Australia. The Launceston Broadband Project was an excellent concept, but has been mismanaged by the Minister and by Telstra.

Telstra and the Minister have let down the local ICT industry and the people of Tasmania who were to benefit from the high value, high skilled jobs that were to have flowed on from it.

Senator Alston cannot ignore the impact his dereliction of duty is having on regional Australians. If he is not prepared even to spend the money he has earmarked on regional ICT industry development then he has no place as the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.

Media contact (Office of Senator Lundy): Jason Ives on (02) 6277 3334 or 0411 237 683
Media contact (Office of Michelle O’Byrne, MP): Brian Roe on (03) 6334 8664 or 0438 604 571

22 April 2003 - Media Release

Local Libs just johnnie-come-latelies to Gungahlin’s broadband woes

Today’s johnnie-come-lately announcement from local Liberals that they have finally decided to take a look at the poor service provided by Telstra to Gungahlin residents is nothing more than political opportunism.

Locally, the Liberal Party has never shown the slightest interest in the residents of Gungahlin who for over a year now, have been demanding improved service from Telstra, including high-speed broadband access and mobile phone coverage.

Following the launch of my “Pair Gains Victims” campaign in March last year, I have received a great deal of correspondence on this issue from Gungahlin residents.  As a result, Federal and local Labor representatives have put significant pressure on Telstra to address these concerns.

In June last year, Bob McMullan MP, Katy Gallagher MLA, and I organised a public forum with over one hundred Gungahlin residents and representatives of Telstra, Optus and TransACT, so that residents could express their concerns directly.  We have also articulated these concerns to Telstra directly.

As a result, Telstra has paid greater attention to these concerns, and Labor is continuing to work hard to ensure that the giant telco follows through on its obligation to provide adequate services to residents in Gungahlin and throughout the ACT.

However, during this time not a peep has ever been heard from local Liberals.  Not even a word of encouragement.

But now that Telstra seems to be responding to the demands made by the Gungahlin community, and local Labor representatives, Mr Smyth has emerged from the shadows to try and claim some credit.

The ACT Liberals, just like their federal colleagues, have avoided every chance to criticise Telstra, even as Canberra residents suffered.  Only now that Telstra has been prodded into action by Labor have they chosen to break their silence.

Such a johnnie-come-lately approach should be seen for the political opportunism it is, and cannot be taken seriously.

22 April 2003. Media contact: Adina Cirson ‑ (02) 6277 3334 or the Electorate Office ‑ 0418 488 295.

17 April 2003 - Media Release

Soccer needs genuine independent board - not Liberal hacks

Labor agrees that the Crawford recommendations are the best hope Soccer has of reform, so it is reasonable that soccer stakeholders should be given the opportunity to nominate the remaining three positions on the interim board of Soccer Australia if it helps the reforms to be supported and implemented.

Labor is already concerned that the independence of the interim board has already been undermined through the appointment of Ron Walker - former Treasurer of the Liberal Party.

With the existing board opting to step down, the positive spirit in which the Crawford recommendations have been considered so far may be put in jeopardy if the interim board is to be run by Liberal hacks.

Soccer reform now needs full support of associated clubs and federations from all levels and these stakeholders must be given the opportunity to implement reform through nomination of the remaining interim positions.

Whilst I am confident Frank Lowy has Soccer's interests at heart, it is not acceptable that the interim board be handpicked by already appointment members. After all this is Soccer Australia, not a private company.

Given that Jeff Kennett’s name has been mentioned as a possible nominee for the interim board, perhaps he should give his mate Richard Alston a call - we hear he is looking for a new job.

Media contact: Adina Cirson ‑ (02) 6277 3334 or the Electorate Office ‑ 0418 488 295.

16 April 2003 -  Media Release

Desperate Minister pulls spam out of hat

After months of pressure from Labor on the issue of junk email (spam), and four months after Labor’s paper, “Solving Spam”, was released, the Coalition have finally issued their report on Spam – ten months overdue.

The Minister claimed to be “concerned” about spam in February 2002, and later promised a report into the issue would be finalised in mid-2002.  This self-imposed deadline was ignored and to fill the void a half-baked interim report was released in August 2002.

It is almost mid 2003 and this paper finally released, and has clearly borrowed from many of the recommendations made in Labor's paper, released in December 2002.

In particular, the Coalition has backed down from its minimal legislation approach, and seen the wisdom of Labor's recommendation that legislation be a part of managing the spam problem.

In a week when the Minister is under fire, it is safe to assume that he is trying to distract attention from his dismal Framework for the Future report.

While the Howard Government has done nothing, spam has continued to rise.  Between March 2002 and March 2003, global spam attacks almost doubled by some estimates from 3.7 million attack per month to 6.7 million attacks, per month.  Each individual attack could represent hundreds of individual messages.

The Internet Industry Association states that Australians received over one billion spam emails last year – again, while the Howard Government did nothing.

This is typical of the laziness and disinterest in information technology and internet matters that we have come to expect from the Minister.  If he was really concerned about spam he would have acted years ago.

Labor’s paper outlined several possible ways in which the Government could act to crack down on spam - including new legislation designed to protect privacy and deter spammers, co-operation with the industry, and user education.  However, the Minister was not interested in taking any action and continued to sit on his hands.

Media contact: Adina Cirson ‑ (02) 6277 3334 or the Electorate Office ‑ 0418 488 295.

16 April 2003 - Media Release

Alston missing in action as Nelson hacks into ICT university places

Today’s report (“Reform slashes funded places”, AFR p. 5) that the Minister for Education, Brendan Nelson, is to discontinue ongoing funding for 5,500 ICT, science and maths university places under Backing Australia’s Ability is yet more bad news for Australia’s ICT sector.

This announcement directly undermines Senator Alston’s already farcical Framework for the Future report, which makes a direct reference to the ICT university places promised in Backing Australia’s Ability.

The Framework for the Future Report offered no additional funding for ICT places in university beyond the one-off funding announced two years ago in Backing Australia’s Ability. But now, even that is gone.

Senator Alston has been missing in action as other Ministers make cuts to his programs! He is being undermined by his own Cabinet colleagues, and is obviously lacking support within his own party. It is little wonder he was so deliberately vague about his future yesterday.

The Framework report does nothing for ICT skills development except make more demands upon our already under-funded tertiary education system.

ICT unemployment is currently high, but this does not justify abandoning investment in young people who will be the next generation of ICT professionals the industry.

The only way for future generations of Australians to enjoy the benefits of highly skilled, high paid jobs like those in the ICT sector, is for Government to invest in both education AND development of a vibrant local ICT sector.

The Howard Government is doing neither.

16 April 2003. Media contact: Adina Cirson - (02) 6277 3334 or the Electorate Office - 0418 488 295.

15 April 2003 - Media Release

PM must rule out 'Paris option' for Alston

The Prime Minister must not reward Senator Richard Alston with the 'Paris option' (lucrative post-parliamentary appointment), when the failed Minister steps down from his portfolio, as the Minister intimated might be the case today.

It was clear at his press conference today that Senator Alston is angling for a way out of the mess he has created. Everyone knows that saying one’s future is in the hands of the PM is code for please, please, please help me!

This is especially so when it comes off the back of the lacklustre launch of his latest foray into IT industry policy - the dismal Framework for the Future report. This was entered into with the PM’s blessing, a foray that has been exposed today a sham!

Senator Alston has made a series of bungles as Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts. Just recently he has had to admit to an overspend of $3.4 million on his departmental web site.

During Senator Alston's time as Minister, there has been a consistent decline in hardware manufacturing, a significant worsening in Australia's ICT trade deficit, a reduction in private sector expenditure on R&D, and loss of jobs offshore.

This Minister has clocked up many more miles than most Ministers. It is a shame his attention didn't stay a little more focused on policy issues at home in Australia! Should Senator Alston retire, he deserves the same treatment form the Prime Minister that he has given the ICT industry, not some taxpayer funded appointment!

15 April 2002. Media contact: Adina Cirson - (02) 6277 3334 or the Electorate Office - 0418 488 295.

15 April 2003 - Media Release

Alston’s policy message to ICT industry: Would the last company to leave please turn out the lights?

Senator Alston’s ICT policy Framework for the Future report is an eloquent expression of his performance in the IT portfolio - a litany of excuses for failure and attempts to avoid responsibility and not a single original idea for creating or supporting industry.

After weeks of calling for the overdue release of the Framework report, it has finally leaked into the public domain - and we still have nothing.

The report doesn’t even address its own watered-down terms of reference.

It does nothing to identify where Australia might have strategic or competitive advantages, let alone suggest how we could take best advantage of them.

The report is a 60-odd page long apologia for the failure of the Minister and his Government. From its title page, it parrots the scorched earth Treasury line that the ballooning ICT deficit does not matter, and harps on about “enabling” other industries.

Having presided over the collapse of the ICT industries in Australia and our relegation to backwater in global ICT industry planning, Alston says we should be happy just to use ICT products, and that we don’t need to be bothered making them. He is ignoring the fact that the route to creating high skill, high wage jobs for future generations is through developing IT, not just using it.

If that is truly the Minister’s opinion of the place of ICT in a modern knowledge economy, he should resign.

In his seven years on the job the Minister has shown a talent for nothing other than blaming others for his mistakes and inertia - most recently his $4 million website - and spending taxpayers’ money to fund his overseas travel.

Senator Alston’s Failed Framework for the Future report is a pathetic excuse for a policy vision and a waste of time for industry, for Government, and for future generations.

15 April 2002. Media contact: Adina Cirson - (02) 6277 3334 or the Electorate Office - 0418 488 295.

14 April 2003 - Media Release

Australian company wins Government IT outsourcing contract! - Am I dreaming? Pinch me!

I congratulate Volante Systems on being awarded the contract to provide information technology equipment, maintenance and onsite support to Senators’ and Members’ Electorate Offices across Australia.

At last, after 7 years of the Howard Government, an Australian information technology small to medium enterprise (SME) has been considered for a Government contract, something rarer than a digital TV subscriber.

However, the Special Minister of State, Senator Eric Abetz must be joking when he says that this contract represents a “commitment to levelling the playing field so that small to medium enterprises can compete for Government work.”

If that truly were the case, then we would not be seeing the results of the Howard Government bias against the many capable Australian small businesses participating in Government IT outsourcing deals, such as:

This $9 million contract is well deserved for Volante, but is a drop in the ocean to the billions of dollars of tax-payer funded contracts awarded to foreign-owned multinationals in the last seven years.

Senator Abetz may well want to congratulate himself and the Howard Government for finally awarding an IT outsourcing contract to an Australian medium sized IT firm but by any criteria, the reality is, it is too little too late.

14 April 2003. Media contact: Adina Cirson - (02) 6277 3334 or the Electorate Office - 0418 488 295.

7 April 2003 - Media Release

Senator Alston must take responsibility for his department

Senator Alston’s barefaced attempt to weasel out of any blame for his Department’s $4M website blow-out is a disgraceful abdication of his Ministerial responsibility for the Communications, Information Technology and Arts portfolio.

As soon as news broke that his Department had spent $4 million of taxpayers’ money on its web site development and maintenance, the Minister was quick to scurry away from the issue and blame his Department, saying:

“This expenditure was entirely the responsibility of the Department, along with any approval processes associated with spending on the website redevelopment”

The Minister should realise that under the Westminster principle of Ministerial Responsibility, he, not the Department, is ultimately responsible for this expenditure.

The Minister also tried to distance his web site from that of the Department, saying:

To say it is “separate” from the rest of the Department is disingenuous. The Minister’s web site, including all his press releases, can be found at the following URL - clearly on the “home” of the DCITA site:

<http://www.dcita.gov.au/Home/0,,0_4-2_4008,00.html>

It is clear that the Minister’s own site benefits from being hosted along with the Departmental site. The Minister should come clean and take responsibility for his own Department, and admit that his web site is only cosmetically distinguishable from that of his Department, and benefited from the $4 million upgrade.

If this were the private sector, $4 million would cost the Minister his job. This is yet another IT debacle for the Howard Government, and Senator Alston should go.

7 April 2002. Media contact: Media contact: Jason Ives on (02) 6277 3334 or 0411 237 683.

7 April 2003 - Media Release

Crawford Report sets a high bar for Soccer Australia

Soccer Australia is in urgent need of reform and the Crawford Report into Australian soccer advocates the all-or-nothing approach, setting a high bar for the organisation to reach if soccer is to be administered and promoted effectively.

The report recommends a series of radical reforms for Soccer Australia. This process of reform must be conducted in the most independent and democratic way possible, allowing for full consultation with the soccer community at all levels.

The reforms must be implemented without interference from the Howard Government and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC).

The influence of the ASC on the Terms of Reference for the inquiry was obvious; at one point the ASC went so far as to contradict the Minister.

And with Mark Peters, CEO of the ASC, on the inquiry panel how can the Sports Commission consider the issue with an open mind? The possibility that the ASC has already formed an opinion is supported by widely circulating reports of ASC threats to cut funding to soccer.

When the Minister for Sport announced an inquiry into soccer last year, Labor called on the Minister to make the Terms of Reference into the inquiry as broad as possible, to include junior development and the issues surrounding women’s soccer.

However, the Minister chose to keep the Terms of Reference focused on governance management and structure. As a result, the inquiry has not been able to explore strategies needed to ensure that the community-based organisation and development of soccer in Australia is well-served by the national organisation, Soccer Australia.

The Crawford Report, handed down today, contains a long list of issues it has NOT addressed, because they were outside the Terms of Reference.
In particular this list includes, under the heading of Grass Roots:

All of these issues, which presumable were raised in submissions, need attention. For example, the continuing expansion of soccer for women and girls means that this area of the sport deserves a growing proportion of resources.

The outcome of the Inquiry has set a high bar for Soccer Australia to reach if they are to address their current problems. I urge them to tackle these issues head-on and, in doing so, to put the needs and interests of grass-roots devotees of the sport first.

7 April 2003 Media Contact: Adina Cirson 0418 488 295 or 02 6277 3334

3 April 2003 - Media Release

$4 million = a house in Toorak or a Government website?

Australian taxpayers should be outraged to learn that the Howard Government has paid over $4 million dollars to upgrade a departmental website.

To add insult to injury, this horrendous wastage was spent by a Department responsible for the Government’s online policy - the Department of Communications Information Technology and the Arts.

The $4 million cost to taxpayers was uncovered in an answer to a question I asked in a Senate Estimates hearing.

These are dollar figures usually only seen in a Toorak Real Estate agency.

The original estimate for the web site was $600,000.

This waste is an absolute disgrace. Given the Minister signed off on this expenditure, he must be held accountable - if this were the private sector, the Minister would have lost his job!

This is yet another IT debacle for the Howard Government, and Senator Alston should go.

3 April 2003. Media contact: Jason Ives on (02) 6277 3334 or 0411 237 683

2 April 2003 - Media Release

Coalition uses sneaky deals to abandon ICT industry development

The findings of the recently released Audit Report, Monitoring of Industry Development Commitments under the IT Outsourcing Initiative, show that the Coalition is abandoning its commitment to information and communications technology (ICT) industry development.

The report has revealed how the Minister for Information Technology, Senator Alston, stood by and did nothing as the Cluster 3 Contract Management Office breached Government guidelines relating to industry development during the renewal of the Cluster 3 IT outsourcing contract.

This completely contradicts the Minister’s previous lip service paid to facilitating small business access to Government IT outsourcing contracts.

Under the original Cluster 3 contract the contractors, CSC, were required to sub-contract at least 24% of their business to Australian small businesses, and to ensure that eighty cents in every dollar spent by the Commonwealth to be spent in Australia.

However, under the new deal, only 11.8% of the work must be subcontracted on to Australian small businesses, and the Commonwealth spend in Australia must only be 53% - or around fifty cents per dollar spent. This means that Australia will see fewer of those high-wage, high-skilled jobs that the ICT sector promises.

In particular, the subcontracting requirement is 5.8% less than the minimum of 17.6% that the Government’s own policy requires. However, although the Audit Report shows that the Minister knew this was the case, there is no evidence that he did anything to stop it.

The 2001-02 Industry Development Progress Report, released last week, showed how the Government has failed to sanction IT outsourcers for failing their industry development commitments, and in response the Coalition has made the weak and ineffectual choice of abandoning these commitments altogether rather than enforcing them.

The long-awaited Framework for the Future Report, due out soon, must address these issues comprehensively, or it risks being a waste of paper.

Media contact: Adina Cirson - (02) 6277 3334 or the Electorate Office - 0418 488 295.

1 April 2003 - Joint Media Release

Senator Kate Lundy (Patron) and AFL Canberra Junior League

Junior Australian Football season about to kick off

Australian Football is set for a boom season with an expanded number of clubs and the most number of players registered for many years. The AFL Canberra Junior League season kicks off this weekend, commencing Saturday 5th April 2003.

AFL Canberra Junior League President, Mark Higgins is justifiably upbeat about the health of the sport at the junior level, and has announced that registered player numbers are already up by 10 percent over last year.

“We are delighted that the hard work done by Clubs and the Junior League during the pre-season reflects an increased interest in Australian Football” Higgins said. “With an increase in player numbers and a new club entering teams for the first time, Australian Football can only prosper in the Canberra region”.

Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister for Sport and Senator for the ACT, will take on her 5th consecutive year as AFL Canberra Junior League Patron for the upcoming season.

“I am really excited about my fifth year as patron of the junior league, and with interest in Australian Football gaining momentum it is great to be able to lend my support. It is crucial to the survival of sport at all levels that the grassroots and junior leagues are well established and nurtured.” Senator Lundy said.

Interest in Australian Football has generally increased in the Canberra region with the Kangaroos playing a number of games at Manuka Oval, and the Sydney Swans Reserve grade side entering the AFL Canberra senior competition from this season.

“Yass has announced it is joining the expanded junior competition this year, with the League considering this to be a watershed developments in promotion of the code in the region” according to Mark Higgins.

“The Canberra community have taken a real interest in the development and adoption of AFL, and it is important that this is reflected in increasing participation in Australian Football. I commend the Clubs involved and the organisers for playing such a pivotal role in fostering the AFL Canberra Junior League” Senator Lundy commented.

Senator Lundy will be at Kingston Oval today at 4pm to launch the season.
Media contacts: Mark Higgins 6229 1234 or 0421 338 025 or Adina Cirson 0418 488 295