Internet filtering pilot: Conroy waits for report

James Riley
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 16:11

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As Senate Greens turned up the volume on demands for more detail of Government plans for mandatory internet filtering, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy recommitted to releasing a consultants report on the issue when it is completed.

While the live pilot trial into internet filtering had been concluded, its findings were still being finalised by consultants and had not been handed to the Minister, his office confirmed.

Senator Conroy made no commitment to a timetable for releasing the report’s findings, although some expect to see it prior to the next Senate sitting week starting October 26.

"The report has not yet been finalised but I have undertaken – and I repeat that commitment – to release it in due course," he told the Senate. The Minister has previously said he expected to receive the report this month.

West Australian Greens senator Scott Ludlam and Tasmanian Liberal senator Guy Barnett – at opposite ends of the filtering policy debate – both say they plan to press for much greater detail of the plan through the October Estimates hearings.

Senator Ludlam said Government’s mandatory filtering initiative was "a solution looking for a clearly defined policy problem" – but welcomed Government’s plans for stronger oversight of the way of material submitted to the ACMA blacklist.

"The Government has never been clear about what the public policy problem is that they are trying to solve," Senator Ludlam told iTWire. "If it is about protecting children online then I suspect that he will have unanimous support from all parties."

"But it just seems to be this misconceived idea … they seem to be saying mandatory filtering is the solution, and we will at some time down the track define the problem for you," he said.

"The Minister has created a lot of grief for himself by never clearly defining what problem he was trying to solve."

Senator Conroy said he had been in discussion with industry about "an enhanced practical measure" to ensure that no Government minister, or government bureaucrat were the sole arbiter of what was put in the blacklist.

"One option is that the Classification Board may consider all of the possible items for classification," Senator Conroy told the Senate during Question Time.

"I am considering another option in which an industry-based body, together with the government agency involved, could go through and examine material. Another option is a parliamentary committee, which would then undertake the classification process.

"So there are a number of options that the government is genuinely considering."

The Liberal’s Guy Barnett, who pressured former communications minister Helen Coonan into investigating broad, mandatory internet filtering options during the Howard Government, says he yet to be convinced that the Rudd Government has made progress on filtering.

"I remain very supportive of the importance of internet filtering and of empowering parents to be able to protect their children and filtering plays an important role in that," Senator Barnett told iTWire.

"But I am yet to be satisfied that the Minister and the Government has these issues under control. And the Senate estimates coming up in several weeks time will provide an opportunity to drill down into that and find out exactly what they are doing," he said.

Senator Ludlam maintains Government had now acknowledged that peer to peer traffic was where most of the material that government is targeted was conveyed – the suggestion being that it was trying to capture peer to peer traffic.

Senator Conroy denied peer to peer traffic was ever a target of a filter program, even if it were possible.

"As Senator Ludlam well knows, there has never been a suggestion by this government that peer-to-peer traffic would or could be blocked by our filter. It has never been suggested," Senator Conroy said.

"So for you to continue to make the suggestion that we are attempting to do that just misleads the chamber and the Australian public, Senator Ludlam, and you know better than that. We are not attempting to suggest that the filter can capture peer-to-peer traffic."