Federal Parliament Webcast imminent
The Federal Parliament has agreed to live-stream seven channels on the
Internet from November, Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister Assisting on
Information Technology, said today.
The House of Representatives, the Senate, the Main Committee of the House of
Representatives and four other committees will be available on the new Webcast
service starting from 22 November 1999, when the Senate and House of
Representatives will be broadcast.
The Internet service will initially support up to 400 simultaneous users. The
Department of Parliamentary Reporting Staff will monitor user demand, and if
necessary, they will take appropriate measures to increase the number of
supported users if it is deemed necessary.
The service will be accessible from the Parliament's Home Page. It will not
impact on Parliamentary Internet users as the Parliamentary link to our Internet
Service Provider (Big Pond) has been upgraded to 100 Mbps.
Users accessing the Parliamentary Webcast will be required to use Microsoft
Media Player, which can be downloaded free from the Internet.
Live-streaming of Parliament represents a technological leap-frog for
Australia given that some other jurisdictions deliver parliamentary broadcasts
via cable, whereas the Australian Parliament will be broadcast straight to the
Internet.
Early next year both Chambers will have network capabilities. This will
provide Members and Senators with live access to the parliamentary network and
the Internet from within their respective chambers.
76/99. Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295
Female athletes must reject ‘sex appeal for sponsorship’
argument
Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister for Sport, has criticised a British
Government report recommending female athletes exploit their sex appeal in order
to attract sponsorship.
According to media reports a British survey by the Sports Sponsorship
Advisory Service has submitted that female sports stars ‘may need to play the
sex appeal card’ in order to attract corporate sponsorship.
"I reject any suggestion that the basis for sponsoring sport should be
how much sex appeal you display rather than your ability or performance. If this
British suggestion was adopted across the board, I imagine many male sports
would find themselves without sponsorship", Senator Lundy said.
"Balanced coverage should be afforded in the first place given that
women are attending matches and watching sport in ever increasing numbers.
"Women’s sport does not receive the same levels of sponsorship as men’s
sport because the media has never accorded women’s sport the same levels of
coverage and prominence. The media often reinforces the stereotypes that deny
female athletes the recognition they deserve.
"To their credit, some sections of the Australian media appear to be
providing more coverage of women’s sport and in today’s metropolitan
newspapers, for example, there is coverage of women’s AFL, netball, women’s
soccer, swimming and athletics.
"Sports women should be able to make decisions about how they manage
their ‘sex appeal’ free from any pressures that sponsorship is contingent
upon it.
"I reject and regret the view expressed by the Minister for Sport that
‘sex sells’ and I urge the Government to implement the recommendations
contained in An Illusory Image: A Report on the Media Coverage and Portrayal of
Women’s Sport in Australia to ensure that female athletes receive more
balanced media coverage and adequate corporate sponsorship", Senator Lundy
said.
75/99. Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295
Appointing a woman to the AFL commission
Appointing a woman to the AFL commission would be a welcome and positive step
towards breaking down the gender barriers in sport, Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow
Minister for Sport, told the senate last night.
"The AFL will not find it hard to find a suitable woman to fill the
vacancy on their commission board as it has been reported that a third of the 30
candidates currently being considered by the AFL are women," Senator Lundy
said.
"The AFL understands the importance of having women in senior
administrative and judicial decision making positions. They have been pro-active
and innovative in many areas, most noticeably in promoting indigenous sport and
junior development and I’m confident it won’t be long before a women is
appointed to the AFL commission.
"The AFL should select someone who has a love of the sport, empathy with
the fans and a strategic vision, regardless of gender.
"There are some who want to exclude women from this position of sporting
leadership. This would exclude not just many qualified people, it would signal
to Australian women that we can never become administrators or leaders in male
sports.
"Imagine if men were excluded from being actively involved in women’s
sport on the basis that, as men, they can never properly understand the
strategies and tactics involved in women’s sport.
"This issue goes beyond whether a woman should be on the AFL commission
- it is about the representation of women at senior levels of sporting
administration and ensuring that the barriers preventing women from attaining
leadership roles in sport are removed", Senator Lundy said.
74/99. Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295 or 62773334
Meet the information 'have-nots' of Australia's digital ghettos.
During a visit to Inglewood and Newbridge in Central Victoria yesterday, Senator Kate
Lundy, Shadow Minister Assisting on IT, met with some of Australia's information
'have-nots'.
"It is disturbing to realise that despite the assurances from Telstra and
guarantees from Senator Alston, there are still too many Australians who can only be
described as information 'have-nots', Senator Lundy said.
"There are many small towns and regional centres that are being ignored in the
telecommunications upgrade the Government is boasting so loudly about.
"I have met with many Australians wanting to use the Internet to help progress
their business and community and there is no doubt that rural Australia is being betrayed
and ignored.
"Neither Inglewood or Newbridge have had their exchanges upgraded and services
such as call waiting and message bank are not yet available.
"Connection to the Internet is only available by STD call - despite Inglewood and
Newbridge being less than 40 km from a 'point of presence' in Bendigo.
"The sentiments of residents are best summed up by local store proprietor Wally
Trew who told me that 'every business call I make is STD. So with state and federal
policies hitting small business for six and Telstra charging more for less, is it any
wonder rural small town business is collapsing'.
In a written response to a recent complaint by a Newbridge resident regarding the local
exchange, a Telstra customer relations consultant claimed that 'Telstra complies with its
Universal Service Obligations to provide Standard Telephone services to all residents in
Australia at an affordable price'.
"This is little comfort to the residents of Newbridge and Inglewood as Telstra
claims upgrading the service is possibly 14 months away.
"There must be priority placed on equity of access to the Internet, including
affordable, quality bandwidth. Anything less will result in the further marginalisation of
rural Australia," Senator Lundy said.
73/99. Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295. Wally Trew can be contacted on 03
-54387201
Young Libs tell Howard to log off
The rank and file membership of the Liberal Party has told the Coalition that its
Internet Censorship legislation is unworkable, Shadow Minister for Information Technology,
Senator Kate Lundy, said today.
Senator Lundy was referring to a motion which the South Australian branch of the
Liberal Party passed at the State Council's Annual General meeting, urging the Federal
Government to repeal the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services) Act 1999.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, remained unmoved by the request.
"The motion passed by the South Australian Liberal Party shows that Liberal
supporters know what the Labor Party has always known - that the Government's Broadcasting
Services Amendment Act will do nothing to protect children, but will cause inconvenience
and irritation to thousands of responsible Australians," Senator Lundy said.
While applauding the initiative of the South Australian Young Liberals for moving the
motion, Senator Lundy said she wasn't surprised by the Prime Minister's recalcitrance.
"The Government didn't listen to the opinions of the community who expressed
concern about the legislation, and they certainly didn't listen to the opinions of
industry experts. So I guess that, by ignoring fellow party members, they're just being
consistent.
"Quite clearly, Mr Howard has little understanding of the issue, or of modern
communications. What Mr Howard calls a 'narrow technical argument' will prove to be a
gigantic flaw in the operation of the legislation. He should listen to his younger
colleagues, who are obviously more in touch with information and communication
technologies than he," Senator Lundy said.
72/99. Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295
Farcical response to female participation in sport
> In an answer to a question in the House of Representatives today, the Minister for
Sport had the effrontery to suggest that the Government is increasing female participation
because of Cathy Freeman's victory in England, Mardi Lunn's LPGA tour victory and the
Australian women's junior water polo team winning the world championship, Shadow Minister
for Sport, Senator Kate Lundy, said today.
"Whilst these victories are worthy of celebration, the issue of substance is that
after three years in office, not a single policy aimed at increasing the level of female
participation in sports and recreation has been implemented by the Coalition.
"There are no specific programs targeting women, nor are there any projections to
ensure that female participation increases. In fact, the Coalition has not initiated a
single program to improve the involvement of women and girls in sport, despite an election
promise to do so.
"The Minister also failed to mention that the Women and Sport Unit at the
Australian Institute of Sport was absorbed into the Participation Division and there are
no longer any officers at the Australian Sports Commission working specifically on women
in sport programs.
"The Minister also said in Question Time that the Government was investigating
ways to promote the Centenary of Women's Participation in the Olympics. This is farcical
as during Senate estimates on 7 June it was revealed that the Australian Sports Commission
does not intend to commit funds for this project and they believe it is more appropriate
for the IOC, AOC and SOCOG to celebrate this occasion.
"Just a year out from the 2000 Games, Minister Kelly should refrain from shallow
rhetoric and actually do something about celebrating the Centenary of Women's
Participation in the Olympics and improving female participation", Senator Lundy
said.
71/99. Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295
IT outsourcing damage control.
Government Ministers have switched to 'industry' spin as promised savings disappear
Far from achieving savings, the Government's IT outsourcing program is actually costing
some agencies more than ever while the quality of service appears to be in decline,
Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister for Information Technology, said today.
Questioned by Senator Lundy, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
(DIMA) admitted that their IT is costing more since the Cluster 3 contract came into
force. (see senate estimates, Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Portfolio, Output 2.4,
June 1999)
Senate estimates hearings revealed that CSC (Computer Sciences Corp, the US
multinational which won the Cluster 3 contract last year), had failed to fulfil
approximately 10 per cent of their service level agreements with DIMA.
"Not only are the savings not being realised, the quality of the outsourcing
program is now being questioned.
There are public reports indicating that since taking over DIMA's IT, CSC has confirmed
problems with the network of over 5000 desktop computers. This has resulted in
further conjecture about CSC's capacity to meet their service-level agreements.
"The Coalition is now trying deflect attention from the failures of their IT
outsourcing program by focusing on 'industry development'.
"However the industry development commitments were never publicly disclosed in
detail and the Minister's noisy reassurances are only serving to aggravate Australian IT
companies that have been marginalised in the tender process or lost work as a result of
the program.
"Australian SME's are being forced to watch from the sidelines while US
multinationals rake in revenues at the expense of their growth and export
opportunities", Senator Lundy said.
70/99. Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295 or 62773334
Parliament must support cyberdemocracy.
Senator Kate Lundy presented a paper to the Representation and
Institutional Change Conference, held in Parliament House on August 6, 1999. Titled Cyberdemocracy and the future of the Australian Senate, it
argues that despite having an excellent information technology infrastructure,
Parliamentarians and the Senate itself are not making the most of it.
"As new technologies revolutionise the way society operates, the
Federal Parliament remains an anachronism in many respects. Despite the availability of
information technologies that have enhanced the operations of almost every modern
organisation, the Australian parliament operates in a very traditional manner.
"The effective use of online technologies would greatly enhance
not only the operations of parliament, but also the ability of its members to function
more efficiently. More importantly, it would bring the parliament in step with changes
taking place in society.
"The Australian Federal Parliament should reassess the role of IT
in simplifying work practices and examine the suitability of the US model of electronic
voting to the Australian parliament.
Senator Lundy was the first federal politician to have her own home
page on the World Wide Web.
69/99. Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295 or 62773334
National Footy Tipping plan could supplement sports funding
The Shadow Minister for Sport, Senator Kate Lundy, said she supported in principle a
proposal by the Victorian opposition leader, Steve Bracks, to have a nationwide footy
tipping competition to supplement funds for sport and health.
"There are genuine concerns about the level of gambling in Australia, nevertheless
the idea of a sports lottery or nationwide tipping competition to supplement revenue for
health and sport projects is worthy of consideration as it is already well established in
other countries, Senator Lundy said.
"Over 15 European countries currently use a combination of football pools or
lottos to fund public sports programs.
In Italy, for example, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) raises aver $750 million
per year from a variety of sports lotteries. The United Kingdom raises around $200 million
per year, which is made available to their various Sports Councils. In New Zealand, the
Lottery Grants Board runs a national Lotto that raises funds for the arts sector, and
welfare and community projects.
"However, revenue raised from a footy tipping competition or sports lottery should
not be used to wind back federal funding for sport.
"We know that the Coalition is looking at other avenues to replace government
sports funding, however it is essential that any revenues raised through gambling are
considered supplementary or additional funds for special projects and are not used to
replace existing federal funding," Senator Lundy said.
68/99. Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295 or 62773334
Bush connectivity still lagging - despite the RTIF hype
The Coalition Government has conned the bush by claiming that the Telstra
sell-off funded Regional Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (RTIF) is the
answer to improving internet access, Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister
Assisting on Information Technology said today.
“Australians have a right to be bitterly disappointed in the hype, as many
regions bubbling with innovative ideas for economic growth are still constrained
by lack of critical bandwidth.
“Rural and regional Internet access costs far more, and the enabling
infrastructure - the bandwidth - is of lower quality and often last to be
upgraded.
“Advocates of regional development emphasised the importance of available
and affordable bandwidth during meetings with Labor’s Shadow Ministerial
Industry, Infrastructure and Regional Development committee this week.
“Local academics, IT entrepreneurs and community service providers
presented compelling evidence showing that lack of bandwidth was constraining
opportunities for regions like Rockhampton to achieve their on-line potential.
“The Government’s attempt to try and service the connectivity needs of
rural and regional people through the RTIF is failing, as all grants for
infrastructure are not allowed to impinge on incumbent carrier services.
“The Coalition’s so-called internet ‘social bonus’ has disarmed the
legitimate demands of non-metropolitan citizens to have the capacity to explore
the potential of regional development opportunities and participate fully in the
global economy”, Senator Lundy said.
67/99. Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295 or 62773334
