News Briefs
June 2006
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BILLION DOLLAR TELCO TEMPTATION
The government has been using the $878 million Broadband Connect fund to provide per-service incentive payments to internet providers. But Communications Minister Helen Coonan has announced the government would phase out the payments at the end of June and instead use a new blueprint for the sector to guide the rollout of several major broadband projects.
Under the blueprint, no single technology would be favoured, state and local government would have a role in planning networks, a national broadband map would be drawn up to avoid duplication and internet speeds and take-up rates would be audited.
Senator Coonan said such a network would extend broadband into regional and rural areas and may include a mix of technologies, including fibre, copper, wireless, broadband over powerlines, and in more remote areas, satellite.
The government will soon invite expressions of interest, setting out its likely requirements for project proposals.
The announcement came as Austar, Unwired and SP Telemedia Soul, working together as the Ausalliance, have proposed to roll out a national broadband network using a mix of technologies and subsidised by Broadband Connect.
Senator Coonan said the Ausalliance proposal was a sign the change of policy on Broadband Connect would be welcomed by industry.
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
GLOBAL WATER SMART CITY
The Wagga Wagga ‘ Global Water Smart City ' project, a major strategic initiative by Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Wagga Wagga City Council is a ten year action plan to establish the regional NSW city of Wagga Wagga as an international reference for sustainable and smart use of water resources in an urban environment.
The project was launched during the 2006 Wagga Wagga Innovation Festival's Wealth from Water held in May.
The ‘ Global Water Smart City ' project has been endorsed by Wagga Wagga City Council and developed in conjunction with Professor of Hydrology Shahbaz Khan and his team of water specialists at Charles Sturt University .
“As the city sits in the heart of the Murrumbidgee Basin, we will endeavour to integrate smart knowledge with smart solutions and smart showcasing so that by 2015, Wagga Wagga will be a light house for urban centres around the world that are facing increasing demands on their finite water supplies,” said Professor Khan.
Professor Khan is highly regarded internationally as both lobbyist and scientist for sustainable water use. He is the Australasian regional coordinator for one of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO) major water programs known as HELP. Through this work, he has gained world recognition from the UN for the Murrumbidgee River catchment as the global benchmark for sustainable irrigation.
TRANSPORT
HIGHER MASS LIMITS
"Under the terms of the AusLink Investment Programme bilateral agreement, the Australian Government is providing New South Wales with up to $30.0 million to upgrade bridges on the AusLink National Network so they support higher mass limit vehicles. New South Wales will also extend implementation of the higher mass limits reform," said the Local Government, Territories and Roads Minister, Jim Lloyd.
"Heavy vehicles with road friendly suspensions (such as air suspensions) are able to carry a heavier load, about 10 per cent higher depending on the type or combination of vehicle. These vehicles operate on a specified network of roads around Australia .
"In 2006-07, the Australian Government will provide New South Wales with $6.8 million to upgrade bridges on the AusLink Network, including the bridge at Paddys River on the Hume Highway . This will enable New South Wales to provide higher mass limits access from Melbourne to Sydney by the end of 2006, in accordance with the terms of its AusLink bilateral agreement with the Australian Government.
"The reform has the advantage of encouraging a move towards the latest technology vehicles, meaning safer and cleaner trucks, and enables the freight task to be performed with fewer trucks," he said
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
MENTORING PROGRAM
The Australian Businesswomen's Network (ABN) has won a grant from the Federal Government to deliver a national mentoring program for young women in business.
Last week the Minister for Small Business and Tourism, Fran Bailey, announced under the Australian Government's Building Entrepreneurship in Small Business (BESB) program that the organisation's application to create the innovative MentorNet program was successful.
The MentorNet program is the first national mentoring program to use today's web and digital technology to deliver education and mentoring. The program uses a combination of online classrooms, blogs, podcasts, a web-community and virtual meetings to provide structured skills training and mentoring to businesswomen.
“There has never been a better time to create a program like MentorNet,” says Suzi Dafnis, National General Manager of the ABN. “Today's technologies allow us to tap into the richness of this country's business thinking and education and deliver that direct to aspiring businesswomen in all parts of the country to help them grow their businesses. A successful businesswoman in Melbourne can mentor a woman in Taree. Today's technologies mean that time and distance are no longer barriers. ” she says.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
AREA CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEES
The Australian Government Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Warren Truss, has launched the new Area Consultative Committees' (ACCs) Report to the Community 2004/ 2005 , acknowledging the excellent work of the local ACCs in regional Australia .
Mr Truss, who released the Report at the ACC Chairs Conference in Canberra , said it highlights the key activities and achievements of ACCs across the entire Australia-wide network over the past two years.
"The Report explains the role of the ACCs in developing regional Australia and provides a useful summary of the ground-breaking work they have delivered in each of the local regions.
"This Report to the Community includes examples of the ACCs working with local communities to deliver Australian Government programs that improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of all Australians," he said.
ACCs support a range of initiatives including industry development, education and employment assistance to disadvantaged groups, small business and community development, planning initiatives and infrastructure development.
"ACCs are the Australian Government's Regional Development Network of 56 regionally-based community organisations funded under the Regional Partnerships program ."
Mr Truss encouraged anyone interested in regional development and in building a stronger regional Australia to attend the Growing Regions Conference in Brisbane from the 25 to 27 July. Further information can be found at http://www.dotars.gov.au/regional/growingregions/index.aspx . Log on to www.acc.gov.au to contact your nearest ACC to obtain a copy of Report to the Community 2004/ 2005.
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