Lundy lined up for junior minister promotion

James Riley
Wednesday, 09 December 2009 18:00

Opinion and Analysis

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is considering promoting ACT senator Kate Lundy from the backbench to a Parliamentary Secretary role within the Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy portfolio.

It is understood that Senator Lundy, a long-time advocate for the information and communications technology industries and a former shadow minister for IT, would take charge of digital economy issues within the portfolio and work under Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.

Senior government sources say the Prime Minister has had a proposal on his desk for at least two weeks. An announcement could be made as part of Mr Rudd's involvement in the 'Realising Our Broadband Future' conference being held at the University of New South Wales later today.

Senator Conroy is said to be keen on the appointment and has often acknowledged in public remarks Senator Lundy’s expertise in various parts of the broad ICT sector.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to deliver the conference keynote address at 9am.

Senator Lundy has been given an extraordinarily high-profile at the conference for a backbencher – notwithstanding her status as a well-known friend to the ICT sector.

In what may be the most important technology conference held in this country, Senator Lundy will host a plenary session on Day One that includes speakers ranging from Microsoft chief technology officer Craig Mundie to internet visionary Vinton Cerf and Google’s YouTube product manager David King.

More significantly, Senator Lundy has been working closely with the Minister’s office and the conference organisers to make sure Realising Our Broadband Future incorporates the Web 2.0-style collaborations that have become a hallmark of her PublicSphere events.

In addition to the live video streaming, Twitter feeds and wiki's that are commonplace at Public Sphere events, Senator Lundy’s office has been instrumental in creating group events in Adelaide, Melbourne, Queensland and Parramatta that will take place simultaneous with the conference – with ideas generated being fed in the broadband conference pool.

Senator Lundy has held a special interest in the ICT sector since she entered the Senate in 1996 – and has been a member of the various incarnations of the Environment, Communications and the Arts committee since that time.

She has held a special interest in industry development issues for the local ICT sector, as well as research and development. Communications regulatory policy, and the broadband implementation planning has been an area of interest.

Through the hugely successful Public Sphere events, Senator Lundy has been a stand-out performer this year, and demonstrated an ability to cut through with practical action in areas like Government 2.0 where there had not yet been a clearly articulated policy or direction.

Senior ICT industry leaders have said for some time that Senator Lundy was being under-utilised and have pressed for her support of the sector to be formalised in a promotion.

While her expertise might have suited her to Lindsay Tanner's Finance Portfolio or Kim Carr's Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, it is understood the preference is that she take charge of the specific industry development issues associated with the Digital Economy – to ensure Australia's maximises the potential benefits of the National Broadband Network.