The newly-created Office of the Australian Information Commissioner would bring with it an era with much easier access to public sector information and a boon for Gov 2.0 practices, Parliamentary Secretary Kate Lundy said.

The Office of the Australian Privacy Commissioner's handling of the Google StreetView WiFi privacy breach had been "a travesty" and an abrogation of specific responsibilities, the Australian Privacy Foundation has charged.

Google Australia remains a prosecution target of federal investigators over its systematic and unauthorised collection of personal data through its fleet of Street View cars, with the Australian Federal Police currently assessing advice on possible breaches of Commonwealth criminal law.  

Malcolm Turnbull, not unreasonably, wants the most rigorous tests of project oversight and financial transparency applied to the National Broadband Network. Which is quite right, of course. It is, after all, the largest single infrastructure spending project ever undertaken in this country.

A cost-benefit analysis may not be the right instrument to apply to the National Broadband Network project, according to Western Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam, who says the NBN Company business case will make more relevant reading.

The Opposition had misunderstood proposed telecommunications regulatory reforms and was wrong in claiming that any deal between Telstra and NBN Co would not be scrutinised by the consumer watchdog, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says.

Guaranteed minimum broadband speeds of 12Mbps could be delivered at a fraction of the cost of Government's National Broadband Network - and wouldn't cost taxpayers anything in the cities, shadow communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says.

The Coalition wants amendments to proposed telecommunications industry reforms that allow for a Telstra separation into wholesale and retail businesses - but under a deal that guarantees wholesale pricing and regulatory certainty for the company.

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard has branded Coalition broadband policy that would create a wholesale-only company called CanCo and guarantee all Australians access to 12Mbps as "SlowCo," saying it would lead to less competition and slower speeds.

The release of tens of thousands military documents from the Afghanistan conflict by the WikiLeaks website last July had not had a direct significant impact on Australia's national security interests, Defence Minister Stephen Smith has told Parliament.