28 March 2003 - Media Release

Critical Infrastructure - Australia at Risk

In a presentation Critical Infrastructure: How organisations can protect themselves, to the South Pacific and Asia Conference (SOPAC) of Internal Auditors, Senator Kate Lundy reflected on the changes wrought by privatisation and terrorism on Critical Infrastructure protection.

"Critical infrastructure protection and emergency response plans must now be considered a far higher priority in both the public and private sector because of the global terror threat," Senator Lundy said.

Critical Infrastructure keeps society functioning, particularly the focus on information and communication infrastructure.

"If they have not already, I urge organisations in all sectors to take urgent action to address their critical infrastructure protection," Senator Lundy said.

Please click here to view the speech.

Media contact:  Adina Cirson 0418 488 295  or 6277 3334

27 March 2003 - Media Release

Local industry loses out to Government IT Outsourcing – Report

The newly released 2001-02 Industry Development Progress Report is another black mark against the Minister for Information Technology, Senator Richard Alston, for his failure to ensure IT Outsourcing industry development commitments are met.

The report, released several months late, shows that the Government’s industry development requirements are a sham, as none of the multinational prime contractors for the five big Government IT outsourcing contracts met all of their contractual obligations to the local industry.

For example, IBM GSA has been a particularly poor performer – failing three out of ten out-of-scope requirements, and failing to provide data on a fourth.

These breaches have had adverse impacts on three Australian ICT small businesses, with the report noting that one of those businesses subsequently became “under external administration”.

The only response from the Department for Communications IT and the Arts to these and other breaches (detailed below) has been to discuss the issues with the offending parties – not even a slap on the wrist, let alone any meaningful sanctions.

In the past, the only response from the Minister to these breaches has been to suggest that these requirements should be watered down!  This is despite the fact that the industry development requirements contained in these contracts are far from onerous.

That the Minister hasn’t acted when these were not met is just another indication that he has no serious commitment in ICT industry development.

I call on the Coalition to ensure that outsourcers deliver on their industry development commitments in full.

The development of Australia’s ICT industry will translate to the creation of high skill, high wage jobs in this country.

Click here for the 2001-02 Industry Development Progress Report

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

26 March 2003 - Media Release

Seven reports in seven years:  Alston’s last chance

The long overdue ICT Framework for the Future is the Minister’s last chance to develop a credible policy for the Information and Communications Technology Industry in Australia.

Report after report – seven in seven years (attached) – has recommended specific action, but the Coalition has repeatedly failed to deliver.

The terms of reference for the ICT Framework for the Future Steering Committee must be answered specifically and comprehensively. (Terms of reference attached)

If this report fails in the most basic way, the Minister must resign. As chairperson of this committee, it is appropriate that he be held responsible for it.

Australia needs a plan that takes advantage of the opportunities that technological change presents both socially and economically. A strong ICT industry is central to this.

The Minister has had every chance to take up this challenge and support ICT Small Business. Instead he has chosen to respond with little more than a sneering disregard for the industry.

I call on the Minister to stop procrastinating about the Framework For the Future Report and release it immediately.

Click here for my speech in parliament on this matter.

See below for the seven previously released reports and the Terms of Reference for the ICT Framework For the Future Steering Committee.

Previous Reports

Spectator or Player: Competitiveness of Australia’s Information Industries. (Allen Consulting) March 1997

Going for Growth: Business Programs for Investment, Innovation and Export (The Mortimer Report) June 1997

Information Industries Taskforce: The Global Information Economy: The Way Ahead (The Goldsworthy Report ) July 1997

IPAC A National Policy Framework for Structural Adjustment Within the New Commonwealth of Information (The Cutler Report) 1997

The IT Engine Room: SME’s in Australia’s IT&T Industry (AIIA and DCITA) 1999

Australia’s ICT Research Base: Driving the New Economy (Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council) 2000

A Chance to Change: Final Report by the Chief Scientist (The Batterham Report) 2000

Terms of Reference for ICT Framework For the Future  (www.dcita.gov.au)

Development of the Framework will be guided by a Steering Committee, chaired by the Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts.
The Steering Committee will:

26 March 2003- Media Contact: Adina Cirson 0418 488 295 or 6277 3334

11 March 2003 - Media Release

Senator Alston continues head-in-the-sand approach to ICT industry

When the Minister for Information Technology, Senator Richard Alston, said in today’s Australian that he is “winning the argument” over Australia’s $14.4 billion information technology trade deficit, he demonstrated that he’d rather put his head in the sand over this issue than support the growth of Australia’s ICT industry.

With the Framework for the Future Report, due “in the not-too-distant future,” the Minister has the perfect opportunity to outline his strategy to address this $14.4 billion trade deficit.

So it is worrying that he is so willing to put up his hand in favour of ICT imports over Australian developed information and communications technology. Surely the real goal should be to reduce the deficit by developing the local ICT industry.

The fact is that this colossal trade deficit is a symptom of the damage caused by six years of Coalition antipathy for the local ICT industry. Six years of choosing to support foreign owned multinational corporations, without regard to Australian ICT small businesses.

Unless his much vaunted, yet long awaited Framework for the Future Report contains strategies to address this huge ICT trade deficit then he won’t be presenting a framework for the future, he’ll be presenting a framework for repeating the past.

Senator Alston wrongly believes that he is “winning the argument” over Australia’s $14.4 billion information technology trade deficit, but this head in the sand approach won’t be a winner for Australia’s ICT industry.

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

6 March 2003 - Media Release

World Anti-Doping Code only the first step

The Copenhagen World Conference on Doping in Sport, which saw 50 countries sign in support of the World Anti-Doping code, is to be applauded.

Given the recent controversy surrounding different sanctions for prominent athletes according to their particular sports anti-doping policy, the adoption of this code is a fantastic opportunity to work proactively towards a more coherent and fair approach.

This essential Code provides the Howard Government with the opportunity to establish an Independent National Anti-Doping Tribunal, a body that would cover all sporting organisations.

The Government must assert this aspect of the Code to ensure an independent body is established that can deal with doping issues in a consistent and fair manner.

The role the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA) will now become increasingly important with the adoption of this Code, and it is crucial that the important work of ASDA is maintained and indeed increased, to allow for further research and testing to be conducted.

Unfortunately ASDA - which operates independently very effectively - is being undermined through a continuing reduction in their funding. ASDA funding from this Government has been declining since 1998 with forward estimates indicating funding will have decreased from 78% in 1998-99 to 67% in 2003-04, effectively forcing ASDA to be increasingly dependant on fee for service funding.

Given the rhetorical commitment of this government to get tough on drugs in sport, how can we take them seriously when ASDA doesn’t even have a commitment to maintain their current levels of research and testing in the next financial year?

The government must now put their money where their mouth is and support the pursuit of drug free sport in Australia. The role of ASDA is crucial to the successful implementation of the Code, as is the establishment of an independent National Anti-doping Tribunal.

I commend the Australian Delegates role in the World Anti-Doping Code, but the Minister must follow through with a tribunal and increased funding for ASDA. I call on him to do so.

6 March 2003- Media Contact: Adina Cirson 0418 488 295 or 6277 3334

6 March 2003 - Media Release

Coalition ignores net education - NetAlert to be wound up

Senator Alston’s obvious disinterest in assisting parents to supervise and manage their children’s internet activity was exposed today when he demonstrated his incapacity to recognise the importance of internet education.

Senator Alston’s view is consistent with the Government’s shoddy treatment of NetAlert, the body responsible for educating families about safe internet surfing.

NetAlert has revealed that over the last year, their operation has been run on the smell of an oily rag, and if more funding is not secured will commence procedings to wind up, possibly as early as the end of March.

Even before this recent publicity, NetAlert was seeking up to $10 million from the Government to educate parents in safe internet surfing for children over the next three years.

The Minister has so far refused to support this measure, and quite clearly is not interested in user education.

Instead the Coalition’s approach has been to ignore the reality of the net, irresponsibly suggesting that a magic wand exists to make the internet “safe” to the satisfaction of every family. This is unrealistic, and Senator Alston is misleading the public if he is suggesting this will work.

Unwanted internet content is of concern to all parents, and that is why Labor believes the Government should assist them in learning how to operate the internet safely. It should not be put in the “too hard” basket.

Labor calls on the Coalition to increase funding to allow NetAlert to conduct a real education campaign for parents.

Please click here for my speech in the Senate: Internet Content - parent education is the key.

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

4 March 2003 - Media Release

Fridge magnets will not prevent unwelcome porn

The Regulating Youth Access to Pornography report released today vindicates Labor’s criticism of the Coalition’s nonsensical approach to internet censorship.

In response to concerns raised about internet content, part of the Coalition’s solution was to establish “Net Alert”, which sends out a kit to concerned callers containing a fridge magnet, the usual Howard Government information campaign cop-out. In all, the annual report stated they had sent out 32,523 fridge magnets!

The Regulating Youth Access to Pornography Report found that only 17% of Australian parents with internet connections have currently installed filters. NetAlert needs to concentrate more on educating parents directly to help them control their child’s internet experience.

Labor supports the Australian Internet Society’s (ISOC.au) recommendation to establish a “user voice”. This body would provide support and advice for individual users and user organisations to increase awareness of internet technology.

Labor believes the Report’s recommendation to increase internet regulation by forcing all Australian internet service providers (ISPs) to filter all of their content is unworkable. The cost this would place on ISPs would be prohibitive, and internet speeds would be significantly reduced.

The end result for consumers would be a slower, more expensive internet.

Furthermore, while filters are an important tool for managing internet content, to suggest that “mass-installed” filters represent a 100% reliable defence against objectionable internet content is misleading. The Australian Broadcasting Authority has conceded as much to a Senate Estimates Committee:

“A common finding in relation to existing [internet filter] products has been that they are only partly effective … In particular [none of the products currently available] meet users’ expectations with regard to blocking accuracy, usability and system performance.”

[Source: Senate ECITA Legislation Committee, Answer to Questions on Notice #51, 20/11/02]

Ultimately, there is no all-purpose, “easy fix” to this problem. While filters are important tools, they can only ever be a part of a holistic approach that emphasises end user education.

Please click here for my speech in the Senate: Internet Content - parent education is the key.

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

3 March 2003 - Media Release

Internet user education the key to protection from unwanted porn

The findings contained in the Australia Institute’s report, Youth and Pornography in Australia demonstrate that the Coalition’s “big brother” approach to internet censorship is not working.

The Report indicates that young people have little trouble in seeking out sexually explicit internet content in the same way that young people have had little trouble seeking out pornography in other forms of media, such as X-rated videos and magazines.

The Report's conclusions are already well understood and accepted and have informed Labor's approach to internet content management. This has been to point to the need for greater education to prevent internet users’ exposure to unwanted sexually explicit material.

Labor has consistently advocated that the most effective approach to reducing young people's exposure to sexually explicit material is to ensure that parents particularly have the ability to use internet filter products and other forms of internet content management, rather than having laws that imply the internet is 'safe' for children.

There is a risk that some parents are being misled by the Coalition into thinking that their children are being protected by internet censorship laws when they are not.

This risk is that unsuitable content can be accessed from overseas sites - sites which cannot be regulated. This is why the best form of internet content management is in the hands of the internet users themselves.

Labor supports the conclusions of the report, which include:

Unfortunately the Government’s approach has been to promote censorship, rather than provide practical solutions empowering families to manage their internet content in accordance with their own principles and views.

Please click here for my speech in the Senate: Internet Content - parent education is the key.

Media contact: Jason Ives on (02) 6277 3334 or 0411 237 683