KEY POINTS:
John Howard's Coalition government and the Labor opposition will fight next month's election based on often opposing policies they see as crucial to carrying on Australia's lengthy spell of economic growth.
Tax cuts and further lowering unemployment are high on the agenda but the parties' respective IT policies could also have an impact on the election result, with broadband and the IT skills shortage sparking fierce debate across the Tasman in recent months.
As the Australian reports, the big opposing schemes proposed to build broadband infrastructure will be an election issue due to the billions of public dollars involved.
Then there's the Government's proposed Access Card for health and welfare which Labor has vowed to scrap if it gets into power.
Some 15 million Australians would have to be registered for the cards as part of the A$1.1 billion project which critics say is little more than an attempt to push an official ID card on the population.
So there's likely to be plenty of IT policy flying in Canberra and around Australia in the next few weeks with varying billion dollar plans to fibre Australia's cities getting the most attention.
Meanwhile, Australian internet providers, like our own ones, are getting ready to launch naked DSL packages, which allow for customers to drop their monthly line subscription to Telstra (or Telecom here) in favour of renting a line solely for broadband.
VoIP telephony services can then be offered at a lower cost than a regular phone line. But as the Sydney Morning Herald points out:
"The naked DSL plans will be marginally more expensive than current DSL offerings, but the added cost will be outstripped by the fact that the user can forego paying between A$20-$30 a month in line rental fees".
And the The Age reports, so-called Gen-Yers are the most likely consumers to be comfortable with ditching their landline in favour of VoIP services, even Skype with small businesses also expected to be enthusiastic adopters.
The local tech blogosphere:
Aardvark on regulating mobile calling charges.
Richard MacManus on Zimbra's $US350m sale to Yahoo.
