Labor's Kate Lundy revises filter stance

Labor Senator Kate Lundy has expanded the set of options she will take to the party room regarding the controversial mandatory internet filter policy, including an opt-in approach alongside her existing opt-out option.

Kate Lundy(Credit: Liam Tung/ZDNet Australia)

The senator has previously signalled that she is uncomfortable with the filter policy, but has continued to support Labor's party line on the issue while still working within the established party structures to attempt to inject some flexibility into the project.

Initially, Lundy's approach had been to persuade Labor to allow Australians to opt out of the filter technology on their individual internet connections. But in a blog post today, she said she would now also put forward an avenue for people to opt in for the filter technology to be applied.

"It has become clear that the community has a preference for opt-in approach, rather than an opt-out compromise," she said.

"This blog post is to signal to the community that I now intend to present both an OPT-IN and OPT-OUT approach to the Labor caucus along with the merits and the level of community support for each when the legislation is brought forward."

Lundy said from what she could see happening across the internet, an opt-in approach would attract the endorsement of "a wide range of community organisations".

The senator's blog immediately attracted response — both positive and negative — from interested parties in the community. "DING DING DING! A Labor politician gets it," wrote one commenter.

However, Internode network engineer Mark Newton (a long-standing critic of the filter proposal) said Lundy wasn't going far enough. He had to "call a spade a spade" and said that the whole proposal was one more in a string of regulatory disasters that had been foisted on the Australian telecommunications industry.

"It's profoundly disappointing that the one person in the ALP who seems to 'get it' isn't howling from the rooftops in fury about that," he wrote.