Conroy Confirmed for Cabinet as the Communications and Broaband Minister

By Nathan Statz

Month Date, 2007: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced that Senator Stephen Conroy will be sworn in as the Minister for Communications, Broadband and the Digital Economy which puts him in the hot seat to deliver on Labor’s IT election promises.

Having been highly successful when he was put up against the former Communications minister, Liberal Senator Helen Coonan the appointment isn’t surprising to many and will see Senator Conroy as a front bench cabinet member.

“I am very excited to be a part of the Rudd Labor Government and to be appointed to this important role,” said Senator Conroy.

Many eyes will be on Senator Conroy as he begins the tedious process of forging a national Fibre-To-The-Node (FTTN) network which formed a key element of Labor’s election campaign. The FTTN network has been previously heralded as a joint operation with both Government and private funding, though whether all the pre-election statements about the network come into fruition is yet to be seen.

“There are many things on our agenda of work including implementing our national broadband network to deliver minimum speeds of 12 Mbps to 98% of Australians and improve broadband services for all Australians.” said Senator Conroy.

While it was largely tipped that Senator Conroy would maintain the Communications post, the addition of Broadband and the Digital Economy to the title is somewhat less expected and will no doubt reflects the new Government's intensive focus on broadband and keeping pace with the globalised digital economy.

“We will also be focussing on the roll out of digital television and radio and restoring media diversity within Australia.” Said Senator Conroy.

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