Is Conroy the best performing minister in the Gillard Govt?

[Jovial Monk]

He has certainly steered the NBN all the way from the original Mk 1 conception through to now when the Telstra and Optus deals have been done and dusted!

He has also, despite attracting a lot of flak, played that pseudochristian fool Fielding very well, proposing that ISP level mandatory filtering scheme then winding that back slowly after the last election when Fielding lost his seat and is now out of the Senate. Fielding even opposed Tone’s proposed $80m Plebiscite that Tone wasn’t going to be be bound by!

As I said, starting from after the last election Conroy has slowly backpedalled on the filter and last week closed the office that dealt with it. I must say that Sen Scott Ludlam of the Greens has been the only real opponent of the scheme, much more so than the stupid Libs! But the filter is dead and will not be mentioned again as a currently proposed policy.

Rudd took the FTTN proposal to the 2007 election. It took some time to get to the calling of tenders and Sol’s Trujillo still managed to be late putting a last-minute, one page tender in—one page for a $20Bn project! The Panel of Experts advised that FTTN didn’t cut the mustard, partly because Telstra would still own the last mile of copper and would freeze out competition, the state of the copper was another concern. The Panel recommended a FTTH scheme.

Conroy took that recommendation and hopped on a flight with PM Rudd—on a plane was about the only time you could talk to him uninterrupted. Conroy convinced Rudd and Rudd made a great speech outlining the need for the FTTH NBN Mk II and Conroy has taken it from there to now where the NBN is unstoppable.

I mention this flight because a lot of the less intelligent Lib fanbois (there are a lot of less intelligent ones!) say that Conroy and Rudd designed the NBN on the back of a beer coaster on that flight! Rudd doesn’t drink, there would have been no coasters! That apart tho what they discussed was the recommendation of the Panel of Experts. Conroy did a brilliant job selling Rudd on the idea—the only way to bring Australia into the 21st century!

Not that Australia is the only nation to be running out a FTTH! Holland and England are rolling out fibre, as are the Baltic states, Asian states with South Korea and Japan the Leaders!

Now, again, what makes Conroy such an effective Minister is that here in Australia the govt is at the forefront of ways to use the FTTH to boost eHealth, eEducation, access to government data and other applications along those lines. When the NBN is say 20-30% rolled out and these applications are tested, refined and running we will be able to sell this sort of application to other countries running out fibre. That is the difference between our NBN and those in other countries.

For this reason it doesn’t matter if porn becomes one of the main users of the NBN, or downloading of US TV shows etc goes rampant. The real, useful and productive applications will also be going ahead and voyeurs etc will be susbsidising all these health and educational uses etc.

The US is running out fibre, Google and Verizon, temporarily halted due to their poor economy, and Verizon has shown that video, TV over IP will be big sellers. The NBN will make big healthy profits, will not be a drain on the Budget and will more than pay for itself!

All of this due to Conroy who has taken a nebulous, faulty concept and driven the process all the way to now when the NBN is unstoppable. Australia will benefit hugely from the NBN: just imagine the tens, hundreds of thousands of ageing baby boomers that can stay in their own homes and, via the NBN, be in contact with their doctors who can take readings etc rather than have to have the baby boomers taking up hospital or nursing home beds!

Are there alternatives to the FTTH NBN that Conroy could have chosen? Should he have waited for the new technology “just around the corner”? No alternatives exist: wireless does not have enough spectrum and would need 100,000 towers to provide mediocre cover: one fibre optic fibre has more spectrum available to it than all the entire TV/Radio etc spectrum (and the shorter wavelengths that would be best operate like light and need line of sight—no better than fibre and worse, it would hardly work anytime there was rain, etc! FTTN is what the Libs are currently using as their fallback position but we have been there done that FTTN will not work. No matter what alternative there may be in 20 years, quantum computing say, it needs a wave guide to communicate and glass fibre is an excellent waveguide!

All I can do now is wait, impatiently, for the NBN to reach my neck of the woods! Hopefully Conroy is now hustling NBN Co along as best as he can!

[Ethnic]

Are you out of your mind? This is the same jerk who wants to censor the internet and put us in the same category as China and North Korea. He's the fucking worst.

[Jovial Monk]

You didn’t read my post. I covered that aspect. Read it again Celly!

[Ethnic]

He proposed censorship, he fought hard for it, he criticised people who opposed it and only backed down because GetUp got pissed. He is a douche unworthy of having the word 'best' bestowed upon him unless the sentence is 'best excuse of a goat turd politician'.

[Jovial Monk]

And got Fielding onside and as soon as Fielding lost his Senate seat in the last election started backpedalling on the filter. I don’t think he ever meant to introduce it.

[boxy]

I guess someone has to be number 1 jackass.

Hardly something to crow about, though.

[Plough]

The real question here is "is there a miinster in the gillard govt performing well?"

[Jovial Monk]

Two fucking numbnuts.

Conroy took the NBN all the way from a FTTN proposal to now when FTTH is being rolled out. It wasn’t easy. When you are using the NBN and enjoying the smooth speed maybe you two idiots might just give Conroy the credit he deserves.

[Jovial Monk]

And another bouquet:

ABC and SBS board announcements

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today announced six appointments to the ABC and SBS boards under the government's merit-based system.

The new ABC non-executive directors are Professor Fiona Stanley AC and Ms Jane Bennett.

The new SBS non-executive directors are Ms Jacqueline Hey and Ms Daryl Karp. In addition, Dr Bulent Hass Dellal OAM has been appointed as deputy Chairperson of SBS and Ms Patricia Azarias has been reappointed to the SBS Board for a second five-year term.

Senator Conroy said the appointments will strengthen Australia’s national broadcasters.

"I congratulate Professor Stanley, Ms Bennett, Ms Hey, Ms Karp, Dr Dellal and Ms Azarias on their appointments,” Senator Conroy said.

“Each of these appointees brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and skill to the boards of the ABC and SBS.”

This is the third recruitment round for the ABC and SBS boards since the government's merit-based appointment process was implemented in 2008.

"These merit-based appointments demonstrate our resolve to remove political interference and to promote independence in the ABC and SBS boards," said Senator Conroy.

http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/media/ ... s/2011/212

YES! Howards’s political appointments are finally gone from the ABC/SBS boards! Some of them were fucking idiots!

Conroy’s hands off appointment on merit has paid off handsomely!