Greens renew call for Tassie ICT minister

update Tasmanian Greens leader Nick McKim claimed last week that the state was being disadvantaged by not having an information and communications technology minister.

Nick McKim
(Credit: Tasmanian Greens)

"The lack of a dedicated ICT minister for Tasmania is a glaring omission in this day and age," McKim said in a statement. He believed that the ICT industry in Tasmania needed a minister to be able to get the most benefit from the upcoming National Broadband Network roll-out.

His renewed appeal was inspired by Tasmania's absence from locations to benefit from the $250 million backhaul funding, announced last week. Areas such as Broken Hill and Darwin have been earmarked to see fibre from that funding.

McKim's last request for an ICT minister was made in May last year when negotiations to light up the dormant Basslink cable had been dragging on with no sign of a result. The negotiations finally concluded last November and the first customers were hooked up to the cable today.

Tasmania wasn't as connected as it should be when it came to new ICT funding and opportunities, according to McKim, who called on Premier David Bartlett to appoint an ICT minister before the state missed out on any more opportunities.

"Tasmania's failure to secure any funding from the Federal Government's allocation of $250 million to begin the NBN roll-out is a case in point — while the Federal Government have a dedicated minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Tasmania continues to lag behind," McKim said.

"The Bartlett Government needs to move into the 21st century and improve the profile and representation of Tasmania's ICT sector by appointing a dedicated ICT minister to represent this cutting-edge portfolio."

Although the Tasmanian Government has no specific ICT minister, its Premier David Bartlett has worked extensively within the IT industry. Tasmania was also the only state government to put forward its own bid to the government's initial National Broadband Network tender. It has been singled out as the place to start the fibre-to-the-home roll-out.

Bartlett refuted the insinuation that Tasmania had missed an opportunity in a letter to the editor in the Mercury, claiming the state was "now in the box seat to have state of the art technology".

"The State Government is negotiating with the Rudd Government to build on to our existing optic-fibre backbone technology through the NBN process," he said. "This is a result of the far-sighted approach of the Rudd Government, coupled with the determination of the State Government to lever the very best out of this remarkable opportunity."

He said that Tasmania's role in the National Broadband Network wouldn't have been possible if the government had not purchased the optic-fibre backbone in 2003 and engaged a strategic partner.

"It's worth noting that in the 2006 state election campaign, the State Liberals had a policy of selling-off this backbone for as little as $20 million," he said. "Thank goodness this was never allowed to happen."