Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Does the minister recall the Prime Minister’s promise during the 2004 election campaign, when he stated:

We will make sure Australian businesses and families have access to the modern communications tools they need in the 21st century to live and work smarter.

Why then does the World Economic Forum rank Australia’s available internet bandwidth just 25th and the Australian government’s efforts at promoting information technology just 53rd in the world? Minister, are Australians not missing out on the tools they need for the 21st century to live and work smarter, because of the government’s failure to deliver on this important economic issue?