Federal Budget ‘08: Labor’s IT spend for the nation

Treasurer Wayne Swan has promised to provide up to $270.7 million over four years (including $0.3 million in capital funding in 2008-09) to provide equitable access to broadband services in regional and remote communities and black spot areas. Annual funding to be provided through the Australian Broadband Guarantee will be capped.

The Government has also committed to establishing a National Broadband Network to provide high speed broadband services to 98 per cent of Australian homes and businesses.

The Australian Broadband Guarantee will provide access to 'metro comparable' broadband services to underserved areas while the Network is being rolled out and for the remaining 2 per cent of Australians in regional and rural Australia not covered by the Network.

Labor will also provide $125.8 million over four years to establish the Cyber safety Plan. The Cyber safety Plan will provide a range of initiatives to combat online threats and protect children from inappropriate material on the internet.

Such as education programs, ISP level filtering and Communications Media Authority blacklists.

Additionally, a Consultative Working Group focussed on cyber safety issues and a dedicated website for children and research projects on cyber safety issues, will be established.

From 2009/10, ISPs will receive a one-off subsidy towards the costs of installing filters.

This measure will continue funding for the Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for the investigation and prosecution relating to incidents of child sexual exploitation, claimed the Government.

Over the next five years, Labor will also provide $8.6 million to the National Broadband Network policy. This is in addition to the reallocation of $1.8 million from the Australia Connected Expert Taskforce.

The funding will be used to develop and manage the competitive assessment process and to monitor the roll out of the National Broadband Network, according to the government.

The Government will also provide up to $4.7 billion to build a high-speed, open access, fibre based National Broadband Network. Labor claims the new network will deliver minimum speeds of 12 megabits per second to 98 percent of Australian homes and businesses.

According to Labor, “The budget impact will be dependent on the outcome of the recently commenced Request for Proposals process. A provision for the National Broadband Network has therefore been included in the Contingency Reserve pending the determination of the successful proponent.”

The Government will also provide $5.2 million over two years for a new aspect of the Clever Networks program, which will assist with the provision of a managed virtual private network for independent schools across rural and regional Victoria. Labor claims this will help improve learning opportunities and outcomes for students and support the professional development of their teachers.

Labor will also provide $1.2 billion for the Digital Education Revolution, which includes the National Secondary Schools Computer Fund, and the provision funding for the technical framework to support the Digital Education Revolution

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