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Mr Daryl Williams Media Release

MARSHA THOMSON MISLEADS VICTORIANS ON BROADBAND




5 July 2004
102/04

It is disappointing that once again Victorian ICT Minister, Marsha Thomson, is seeking to play politics with broadband rather than working with the Howard Government to improve access to this important technology.

This is despite all of her State and Territory Labor colleagues signing on to the National Broadband Strategy in a coordinated approach to improve broadband access to rural and regional Australians.

This strategy was developed after the extensive Broadband Advisory Group process and in consultation with all State and Territory governments through the National Broadband Strategy Implementation Group, which included Victorian government officials.

The Howard Government is actively spending its $142.8 million contribution to this strategy.

It is ironic that Ms Thomson decided to launch her misguided attack on the same day I announced $2.8 million in funding for community-based broadband demand aggregation projects – including two in Victoria worth more than $550,000.

Many of the regions mentioned in the ACIL Tasman report Ms Thomson launched today will benefit from the Howard Government’s $107.8 million Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HiBIS).

Contrary to Ms Thomson’s claims, the HiBIS guidelines were developed only after extensive research into the broadband needs of rural and regional Australia.

I take this opportunity to remind Ms Thomson of two significant broadband projects recently funded by the Howard Government in Victoria:

  • The $8 million Grampians Rural Health Alliance Network (GRHANet), which will improve the access to advanced health services for more than 200,000 Victorians; and

  • The $2 million Loddon Mallee Health Alliance Coordinated Communications Infrastructure Fund project, which is improving broadband connectivity to more than 30 communities in North West Victoria.

While Ms Thomson is happy to welcome the Howard Government’s money into her State, her comments today demonstrate that she remains embarrassingly isolated and ignorant on broadband policy.




Media Contact: Carina Tan-Van Baren (02) 6277 7480 or 0439 425 373