Wake up Telstra, BHP's on-line
BHP is to be congratulated for grasping the significance of recent initiatives by US
companies that are paying to connect all their employees to the Internet.
But how embarrassing for Telstra.
Telstra, whose ambitions to dominate the Internet in Australia know no bounds, is so
busy complaining that it can't be a serious player online until it is privatised, that it
is being shown the way to the future by a mining company.
If Telstra was serious about becoming a 21st Century company, it would no only be
bringing all its own people online, it would also be making a genuine effort to achieve
universal Internet connectivity, rather than just trying to take out its competitors by
using its continuing market dominance.
So-called Old Economy companies in the US, Ford and Delta Airlines, and now BHP have
recognised that creating a workforce that is equipped to be internationally competitive
requires them to help all staff to skill-up and embrace the Internet.
The strong appetite Australians have shown for new technology means that we are
strongly positioned as a nation to be a leader in the knowledge economy, provided we have
political and corporate leadership that understands that universal connectivity must be a
social and economic priority.
Telstra's close relationship with the Federal Government and the fixation on
privatisation has blinded them both to the opportunity to create a world class
telecommunications workforce and the imperative to demonstrate leadership to the rest of
the Australian corporate sector.
Instead of helping itself and its customers by bringing its workers online, Telstra is
sacking them for short term cost savings.
Senator Lundy is presently participating in a trade mission to Israel and Silicon
Valley organised by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, led by Telstra Chairman, Bob
Mansfield.
16/00. Contact: Simon Tatz on 02-62773879 or 0418 488295
A 10% tax on playing sport
A full 10 per cent GST will be applied to almost every facet of sport and recreation in
Australia, including the activities of school age children who do not earn a taxable
income and are participating in healthy community activities, the Shadow Minister for
Sport, Senator Kate Lundy, said today.
"The most unfair and inequitable aspect of the GST is that essential activities,
such as teaching your children basic water safety and survival skills, are being taxed -
in this case twice. The GST is going to be applied to both the cost of entry into a
swimming pool and the cost of learn-to-swim classes.
"The GST is also being applied to all coaching classes, with the Australian
Coaching Council having already notified members that fees will rise by a full 10 per cent
from 1 July.
"Aerobics classes, health and fitness centres, personal trainers, health clubs,
fitness consultants and gym fees will all cost 10 per cent more.
"It’s a tax on all coaching and training courses, and if you want to do
something beneficial, like becoming a junior umpire or referee - then you’ll pay the
GST on that too.
"This unfair application of the GST is a disincentive to participate in a healthy
lifestyle.
"Young people, who generally rely on their parents to pay for their sporting
activities are being unjustly made to pay the GST. For example, young children refereeing
junior soccer games are being levied the full 10 per cent GST on their registration fees.
"Junior footy programs, like Auskick, which targets children in the 7-10-year age
group to increase their health and provide supervised social interaction, are having their
subscription fees raised by 10 per cent.
"Many small sporting clubs are already hiking up their registration and membership
fees by over 10 per cent to compensate for the fact that they cannot claim their
inputs back through any other mechanism.
"The sporting goods industry has also confirmed that most sporting items, such as
equipment and uniforms, will rise by the full 10 per cent from July 1. For example,
cricket gear such as gloves, spikes, pads and helmets will be going up by 10 per cent,
according to manufacturers.
"This is the Howard-Lees new tax system - a tax on people involved in healthy
activities that benefit themselves and the Australian community," Senator Lundy said.
15/00. Contact: Simon Tatz on 02-62773879 or 0418 488295
IWD – Celebrating women entrepreneurs in an information society
Women are making their mark on Australia’s innovative landscape, Shadow Minister
Assisting on IT, Senator Kate Lundy, said today.
"Today’s celebration of International Women’s Day is a time for women to
celebrate their entrepreneurial achievements as they extend their presence in the
‘dot.com’ space here in Australia.
"Entrepreneurs are traditionally thought of as male, however this stereotype is
changing in the information age.
"The Internet is re-setting power relationships. For many women, the
Internet’s chaotic overload of information and worldly scope is not seen as an
intimidating, technical mass, but a space within which we can put our intuitive, lateral
approach to life and work to good use.
"New technologies may have traditionally been the playground for men, but the
Internet is different.
"Women are using the Internet in almost equal numbers to men. Recent Australian
Bureau of Statistics data shows that women are using the Internet in almost equal numbers
to men; currently 41% of women have accessed the Net, with 30% regularly accessing the
Internet.
"In Labor’s vision of a Knowledge Nation, people with ideas and the capacity
to turn them into businesses, jobs and income, will be essential to a healthy economic
future.
"Labor will continue to encourage Australian women in IT as they move towards
equilibrium with their male entrepreneurial colleagues, Senator Lundy said.
14/00. Contact: Simon Tatz on 02-62773879 or 0418 488295
SPLASH OUT 2000 funds all dried up
SPLASH OUT at the Pool, the festival held every year for the past 6 years by Radio 2XX
FM to celebrate International Womens Day, has been cancelled due to a lack of funding by
the ACT Government, ACT Senator Kate Lundy, said today.
‘SPLASH OUT is a wonderful alternative to some of the more formal International
Womens Day functions and I am extremely disappointed that funds have not been made
available for this year, Senator Lundy said.
"At SPLASH OUT, women and girls engaged in a range of recreational and sporting
activities, including archery, martial arts, volleyball, swimming, water polo, as well as
artistic endeavours such as dance, storytelling, screen-printing and henna tattooing.
"Women and girls could browse the Information Fair staffed by women's services in
the ACT. They could also experience a range of massage therapies in the Body Tent, or
enjoy the concert program of musicians and speakers.
"SPLASH OUT has always been a grass-roots expression of solidarity and support for
women. It is an acknowledgment of all we have accomplished and all we can achieve, through
the celebration of everything that makes us unique.
"Supported by public arts and health promotion funding, SPLASH OUT was free to the
public and had built up, through its accessibility and imaginative program, a popular
grassroots meeting place for International Womens Day for women of all ages.
"ACT local government arts funding body, artsACT, pulled the plug on SPLASH OUT
2000, recommending no funding this year. This flies in the face of previous support given
through annual grants ranging from between $8,800 and $12,000 for six consecutive
festivals successfully staged 1994 to 1999.
"The explanation given to 2XX FM management was that the Community and Cross-Art
Form Committee found the festival demonstrated, in their opinion, ‘a low level of
artistic excellence and innovation’. However, over 2,700 people attended SPLASH OUT
at the Pool in 1999 to experience new and emerging local talents alongside nationally and
internationally recognised artists.
"SPLASH OUT will be sorely missed by the thousands of ACT women who are left to
wonder why this fantastic ACT event has been wiped off the agenda of cultural
events," Senator Lundy said.
13/00. Contact: Simon Tatz on 02-6277 3334 or 0418 488295
Commonwealth agencies and departments are losing millions of dollars while Minister
Fahey’s IT outsourcing program stalls, Shadow Minister Assisting on IT, Senator Kate
Lundy, said today.
"At the last round of Senate estimates, I heard evidence pointing to a $6m
shortfall for the Department of Health as a result of the IT outsourcing program.
"The Department of Finance reduced the Department of Health’s budget by $6
million over the last three years. This $6 million was supposed to be recouped when IT
outsourcing savings were realised.
"However, the Department of Health has only just signed their IT contract (as part
of the Health cluster), the timing of which was controlled entirely by the Department of
Finance.
"The significance of this is that the Department of Health was unable to recoup
the $6 million worth of savings over the last three years. Their opportunity to recoup
savings begins only after the contract is signed. This example highlights the plight of
most Commonwealth agencies caught up in the IT outsourcing program.
"Furthermore, the Department of Health must save $3 million per year over the next
five years just to break even under their IT contract with IBM-GSA. Given that evidence
heard from the Department of Finance reveals that bottom-line savings should not be
expected, the Department of Health is destined to lose again.
"As a result, it has cost the Department of Health $6 million to date, with a
potential for more losses, as a consequence of Minister Fahey’s flawed IT outsourcing
exercise.
"I have consistently called for the Government IT outsourcing program to be halted
as none of the stated objectives of savings and efficiencies are being achieved,"
Senator Lundy said.
The Minister for Sport, Jackie Kelly, is ignoring a $270,000 White Paper she
commissioned into the future funding of Australian sport, which clearly recommends a
Commonwealth funding increase for sport, the Shadow Minister for Sport, Senator
Kate Lundy, said today.
"First, she is denying it is a White Paper and second, she is refusing to address
its recommendations until after the 2000-01 sports budget is released.
"What’s the point of having an inquiry into post-Olympic funding when
you’re not even going to consider it before the next Budget?
"The Minister is refusing to face up to the challenge of producing a policy for
Australia’s sporting future, so she is trying to bury her White Paper by denying it
ever existed.
"Either the Minister has broken another election promise or she has wasted
$270,000 of taxpayers money on an expensive bookend", Senator Lundy said.
