I would like to say this to fellow Australians.

[ninwa]

Fair enough. Sorry I hurt your (and any Liberal voter's) feelings

[Mao]

Fair enough. Sorry I hurt your (and any Liberal voter's) feelings

It's okay. Many Liberal campaigns and supporters can be quite vindictive, and these are the ones that end up in the media and social media. It's understandable that we jump to generalisations first when passion runs high. The same goes for Liberal supporters who have been unnecessarily harsh on ALP/Greens too.

I think I can at least say that most Liberal voters here are reasonable people, and we were cautious in this vote. I wouldn't say that ALP's policies were bad, the two major parties are roughly the same. But ALP's mismanagement of some of the larger projects (both at state and federal levels, e.g. NBN, Carbon price, myki, desalination plant) have made people question their ability to execute their grand plans. We voted in Abbott and his government, but they have much to prove this term. I think I speak for many when I say that while I prefer the Coalition over the ALP, I won't hesitate to kick him out if he screws up.

[charmanderp]

Thoughts? http://nbnmyths.wordpress.com/2010/09/26/12/

[Mao]

Thoughts? http://nbnmyths.wordpress.com/2010/09/26/12/

1. ditto.

2. Telstra tendered for an FTTN network in 2006/2007, but the ACCC rejected the bid. The private sector wanted to build it, but wasn't allowed because it was anti-competitive (in that Telstra would have complete control over the new fibre network). NBNCo might be a step in curbing that problem, but the price of LNP's FTTN (~$30Bn) vs Telstra's FTTN (~$5Bn) is just crazy.
http://whirlpool.net.au/news/?id=1656

3. Not everyone needs that speed. My parents, for example, despite my years of training them, only chews through ~20GB of quota per month. They most definitely will not need a fibre connection, but tax payers will be paying for one anyways. FTTH should be an opt-in, not a blanket upgrade.

4. Other countries have much higher population density, and even then, few of the other countries promise 100% coverage.

5. Again, population density. Also, Telstra's 2006/2007 bid.

6. VDSL can provide a reasonable fraction of the speed at a reasonable fraction of the investment price. Note that the investment is in the backbone, not node->home, so upgrade will be possible in the future at relative ease. When we discuss the "expensive cost of maintaining copper", the logical choice would obviously be to replace the copper with fibre on failing lines, as the costs will be similar. However, contrary to the scare campaign, most of our copper network is still working fine.

7. ditto.

8. ditto.

9. Indirect cost will be born by the taxpayer. There is no free lunch.

10. ditto.


Bottom line: in hindsight, the Federal government should have made compromises with Telstra to proceed with the 2006/2007 FTTN plan. This would have setup Australia for a reasonably cheap FTTH upgrade in the mid-late 2010s. However, Howard nor Rudd had that foresight, and Telstra now holds all the cards (charging some ~$10Bn for equipment leases to NBNCo).

ALP's FTTH was too ambitious from the start, but we are so far invested now that it's pointless to back out (remember Myki?). Turnbull's FTTN is a plan that might salvage the leftovers, but I'm hopeful that his cost-benefit analysis will convince him otherwise. At this point in time, I believe both options are equally bad choices.

[Guest]

Can we please stop using the phrase 'libtard' which I have seen used by two people now, and which is presumable short for 'liberal retard'.

I remember in the past the moderating team prohibited use of the term 'JuLiar', which was a decision I supported. I think it is only fair that we extend that rule to other phrases that are overly aggressive or demeaning, potentially offensive and which add nothing but vitriol to the political debate.

Like I said, this is one of the many examples of the public failing to deal with change. Resorting to negative denotations seems to be a commonality now, doesn't it?