Page 3336 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 18 September 2013
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I also found it interesting that this motion is brought before the Assembly by a member of a government that, while promoting the importance of technology in driving innovation in the ACT economy, has extreme difficulty in actually delivering on such statements and promises. I would ask where the commitment to technology was when this government promised at the last election—but again has failed to deliver—free wi-fi at bus interchanges and on all ACTION buses. I am sure that we all remember the headlines about the famous Andrew Barr media releases. I will quote from one titled “Connected Capital”:
If re-elected in 2012 ACT Labor will invest $2.9 million … to connect Canberrans with free Wi-Fi in all town centres, bus interchanges and on all ACTION buses.
Fine words. Where is the action—just to coin a pun there?
As we all know, the government talk a lot about the technology directions that they have, but they do not seem to be actually able to deliver on them. Let me just go to this example about wi-fi. It is not innovative—in the sense that it is already in use; it has been used for quite a while. The promise was quite a clear promise. That is just a small example about the commitment to delivery: there is plenty of commitment to the rhetoric about it, but where is the commitment to delivery, Mr Gentleman or Mr Barr? Like Labor governments around Australia—thankfully, they are diminishing rather rapidly—they talk the talk but rarely deliver on what they promise.
We support NICTA, and we always have, but this motion by Mr Gentleman has shades of opportunism and shades of the famous thought bubbles by the former Labor Prime Minister Mr Rudd. Great idea; let’s do it. But where is the substance behind it?
National Information Communication Technology Australia—NICTA, as it is known—is Australia’s information and communications technology centre for excellence. It was established as part of the backing Australia’s ability program launched under a Liberal government in 2001. In his federal address, Prime Minister John Howard is quoted as saying:
In launching Backing Australia’s Ability today, the largest group of measures ever put together by an Australian Government to foster innovation, and in calling upon those in the scientific, education and business communities to take up the opportunities offered by it, I am confident that, together, we can create a climate to harness the talents of our best and brightest and effectively compete in the world of which I’ve just spoken.
By providing significant additional resources and the means by which talented Australians can have a go in the field of science and technology, we are seeking today to nurture a new generation of young scientific minds capable of achieving great things for their country.
Since its official opening on 27 February 2003, NICTA has realised Prime Minister John Howard’s objective to become the leading research and innovation centre for ICT in Australia, underpinning the Liberal Party’s commitment to growing the
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