Abbott launch snubs tech sector entirely

James Riley
Monday, 09 August 2010 02:56

Opinion and Analysis

The Australian tech sector awoke this morning bathed in the warmth of Coalition love after leader Tony Abbott unveiled ambitious communications and IT programs to underpin economic strength, productivity growth and wealth creation for generations to come'¦ No wait, hang on. That's not right.

Oh yeah, now I remember. Tony Abbott, in a 3,300 word speech that marked the Coalition's official campaign launch, said nothing about information technology or communications. Nothing. No plan, no policy. Literally not a word.

There's no fudging it. In the centrepiece Coalition speech of the 2010 campaign, Mr Abbott did not even use the words 'internet,' "technology,' 'broadband' or 'communications' once. It's extraordinary.

In fact, he managed to get through all 3,300 words without ever saying 'network' or - quite incredibly - the word 'infrastructure.'

Seriously, he must have a hell of a speechwriter. Because that would take some skill, creating a speech of that length, detailing short and long-term policies and plans for the nation's future, and still managing to avoid all of those core economic terms.

This is the same bloke who has been hammering Labor for its "reckless" spending on the $43 billion National Broadband Network. Just last week he was warning voters that the NBN project blow-outs could double the cost to taxpayers of the 'network' to $86 billion.

The NBN project would become the nation's biggest and most embarrassing White Elephant and the biggest single contributor to Labor Debt if it were not stopped - which Mr Abbott has already said he will do.

For months Mr Abbott and shadow communications spokesman Tony Smith have been saying Labor can't be trusted to manage a project of the NBN's size. They've just had to point to pink batts, or the Building the Education Revolution as Exhibit A and B.

Yet despite the sky falling in, in his landmark speech on the future of the nation, Mr Abbott strangely did not feel the need to offer voters an alternative vision for broadband infrastructure and the digital economy.

Forget that the ICT sector accounts for up to two-thirds of annual productivity growth in Australia. Forget too that the horizontal ICT sector is the engine room for growth across all industry verticals across the economy, from financial services to manufacturing to retail trading.

Forget also that the technology sector is not some kind of service unit bolted onto the side of the Australian economy. It is intrinsic to mainstream everything: it is the fundamental platform on which our economy runs.

And don't dare to even dream that Mr Abbott might have included some small insight into his plans for the long-needed regulatory reform of the telecommunications sector.

What a disgrace.

And yes, before anyone gets hot under the collar, I know Tony Smith is expected to announce tomorrow the Coalition's communications and IT policy. He will do this either at, or just before, the Press Club debate on the portfolio he will have Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and Greens comms spokesman Scott Ludlam.

The Abbott Coalition has been saying for months that it would halt construction of the NBN if it wins government. Offering not even the scantest detail, the Opposition merely says it has a plan for better broadband at less cost to taxpayers - and that the full policy would be announced prior to the election.

Well the election launch just came and went.