Ding dong, the witch is dead - now where's my fibre to the node?

Adam Turner
Monday, 26 November 2007 05:14

Opinion and Analysis

Now John Howard has gone where the goblins go, can Kevin Rudd finally set Australia off down the yellow brick road that leads to better broadband?

Rudd's win at the polls on Saturday gives Australia a chance for a new start when it comes to high speed internet access. The stalemate between Telstra and the Howard government was holding this country back, with neither prepared to blink in the battle to determine how Australia's next-gen broadband infrastructure would be built.

Now that Coonan the Librarian is cleaning out her desk, discussions between Telstra and the new Labor government can start afresh without either losing face. Now is the time for both sides to accept that they need to put the interests of the nation first and get the job done.

Labor's plan to ensure Telstra doesn't have a monopoly over the next generation of infrastructure is a good one, even if the finer details still need to be worked out. Right now Telstra's grip on the national infrastructure allows it to hold the country to ransom in order to get its own way. Rudd has a once in a generation opportunity to break this grip and Australians are entitled to feel betrayed if he screws it up. Of course there are plenty of other issues that need addressing, but Rudd's first 100 days in office must include significant progress towards building this new network.

Standing in front of the country on Saturday night as Prime Minister-elect, Kevin Rudd promised us "21st century infrastructure" - something I'm betting has never been mentioned before in an Australian election night speech. Now let's see if he is a man not just of words, but of action. It's time.

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