When it comes to plans for the country's National Broadband Network (NBN), Australian voters are in quite a pickle as the federal elections kick off tomorrow, August 21.
A column in the Age outlines a few of the choices of Australian voters and they are head scratchers: vote for the Labor party and their proposed “$43 billion national fibre rollout, designed to offer at least 100 Mbps to at least 90 percent of Australian homes,” or opt for the Liberals and their $6 billion plan to offer at least 12Mbps service to 90 percent of AU residences.
Sure the Labor version sounds good, but keep in mind that the man behind a proposed (though delayed) mandatory Internet filter in the country is Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, a Labor party member.
Columnist Adam Turner writes that the Liberal’s plan for the NBN “sounds like a stop-gap measure which will needed to be upgraded again in a few years,” while Labor’s plan is “future-proof.”
Turner offered his advice to prospective voters:
I think we're better off backing Labor's national fibre network and then continuing to fight against filtering. Considering how long the opposition stayed quiet on filtering, I wouldn't say we can trust the Liberals not to introduce some form of filtering plans themselves should they get into power.
Thanks Ryan!
