The election is over. But does that mean we are stuck with the same IT policies we've experienced over the past three years?
Just prior to the election we asked each party for their take on technology.
We sent the same list of IT policy questions to: Richard Alston (Liberal-National Coalition); Brian Greig (the Democrats); Kerry Nettle (the Greens); Carmen Lawrence (Australian Labor Party); and Pauline Hanson (One Nation).
Is there any difference between the political parties on IT policy? Despite hopeful claims in some of the IT media, IT barely registered a blip during the election campaign.
And, not surprisingly, given the neglect in the lead up to the election, most IT professionals believe there is little difference between the political parties in terms of IT policy. Research by IDC found that 72 percent of business and IT managers interviewed for the researcher's Market Sentiment Monitor saw no difference in any of the major political parties when asked which government they believed would be best for Australian IT.
IDC concluded that neither the Liberal-National Coalition nor the Labor party fully understood and captured the needs of Australian business and IT leaders.
However, when Technology & Business, in conjunction with the ZDNet Australia Web site, conducted a survey of five major political parties, while we found a great deal of common ground, we also uncovered quite a few areas of lively debate, and a couple of surprises.
You may have seen the Great Online debate on ZDNet Australia. Technology & Business took this a step further and asked all the parties some additional questions specific to the needs and interests of IT managers and professionals.
Judging from the answers we received, a Labor victory in the election might have caused some shifts in IT policy, but the return of the Coalition means there will be little change, if any. Labor for the most part seems to concur with Coalition policies, but there are significant differences in areas such as regulation of Internet content, ownership of Telstra, and the role of the ACCC in telecommunications pricing.
By contrast, the Coalition seems to have nothing new up its sleeve, although judging from industry reactions to the Coalition's IT policies so far, this may not be such a bad thing. On the other hand, it means the Coalition's contentious policies--cybercrime, telecommunications interception, privacy, and censorship--will stay in place for the time being.
We've presented the answers from each party pretty much as we received them, except where some were edited for length.
It's disappointing that the only party the failed to address the current problems is the incumbent Liberal Party. It's equally disappointing that the Liberals were reelected.