We may have had to wait weeks for a final result but the Australian people fortuitously delivered just what the country really needed ... a decent broadband network unshackled from the dead hand of Telstra.
In less than 10 years it will be plain for all to see that this single piece of infrastructure will have more impact on our economic and cultural future than any other ever embarked upon before including railways that great 19th century innovation.
Interestingly railways, which incidentally had a massive positive effect overall, suffered from the same type of small mindedness and lack of vision so evident in criticism of 'fibre to the home' viz each state insisting on having its own track guage.
It seems hard to believe, looking back now, that any right thinking person would have deliberately chosen a system which made it necessary to hoist the carriages off and change rolling gear mid trip to travel between state capitals.
To put the capital required into some context, the quantum $43b has been usually described in terms of being an awful lot of money, and it is, but the proposed expenditure of $36b (in the same ball park) to build diesel powered submarines in South Australia speaks volumes to me.
I know which would deliver the best results for the Australian people.
Why we consider defense related items should not require some cost evaluation is interesting. I guess it's considered to be like wars i.e. it might seem unpatriotic in some way to question numbers and we just accept it as being required for some higher goal.
Coming from a family with strong ties to the services (not me personally I concede) I would not for a minute quibble about vital arms or provisions but what I would say is that some higher level decisions are above the usual thinking processes involved here.
Most people accept defense related expenditure and can always justify it after the act .. when it usually doesn't matter anyway.
Despite my usual apolitical stance as an online publisher I have always boosted the NBN when ever the opportunity arose, see my Wollongong column, also syndicated in Sutherland, Parramatta and Newcastle e-zines.
Like many people I believe technology defines how we live. Just think of motor cars, aeroplanes, telephones even TV and how poor our lives would be without them.
Believe me, really fast broadband is right up there with them.
And now we're back on track!
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