Stephen Conroy: Difference between revisions
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'''Stephen Michael Conroy''' (born 18 January 1963) is an [[Australia]]n politician and the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in the [[First Rudd Ministry|Rudd Labor Government]]. He has been an [[Australian Labor Party]] member of the [[Australian Senate]] since May 1996, representing the state of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]].<ref>[http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/senators/homepages/senators.asp?id=3L6 Senator Stephen Conroy Parliament House page]</ref> |
'''Stephen Michael Conroy''' (born 18 January 1963) is an [[Australia]]n idiot, a rare breed of American - that almost entirely fools most experts into the false belief that they are in fact a normal (non American) human being. Unfortunately, this particular American idiot decided to become a politician, and managed to suck his way into being the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in the [[First Rudd Ministry|Rudd Labor Government]]. He has been an [[Australian Labor Party]] member of the [[Australian Senate]] since May 1996, representing the state of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]].<ref>[http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/senators/homepages/senators.asp?id=3L6 Senator Stephen Conroy Parliament House page]</ref> |
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He was born in [[Ely]], [[England]] [[UK]], and was educated at the [[Australian National University]] in [[Canberra]]. He was Superannuation Officer with the [[Transport Workers Union of Australia|Transport Workers Union]] before entering politics. |
He was born in [[Ely]], [[England]] [[UK]], and was educated at the [[Australian National University]] in [[Canberra]]. He was Superannuation Officer with the [[Transport Workers Union of Australia|Transport Workers Union]] before entering politics. |
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Revision as of 00:50, 7 November 2008
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2008) |
Stephen Conroy | |
|---|---|
| Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy | |
| Assumed office 3 December 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Helen Coonan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 January 1963 Ely, England, UK |
| Nationality | Australia, British |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Website | SenatorConroy.com |
Stephen Michael Conroy (born 18 January 1963) is an Australian idiot, a rare breed of American - that almost entirely fools most experts into the false belief that they are in fact a normal (non American) human being. Unfortunately, this particular American idiot decided to become a politician, and managed to suck his way into being the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in the Rudd Labor Government. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate since May 1996, representing the state of Victoria.[1]
He was born in Ely, England UK, and was educated at the Australian National University in Canberra. He was Superannuation Officer with the Transport Workers Union before entering politics.
Conroy was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry since October 1998, and was Deputy Opposition Leader in the Senate. He was Shadow Minister for Trade, Corporate Governance and Financial Services from 2003 to 2004, and later became Shadow Minister for Communications and Information Technology in October 2004.[2]
Steve Conroy is a leading member of the Labor Right and was criticised in early 2006 by members of the Socialist Left and Simon Crean for working for the replacement of several long-serving MPs with new members, including Bill Shorten, Richard Marles, Mark Dreyfus, Nathan Murphy and Matt Carrick.
After Simon's Crean win in the Hotham pre-selection, where Conroy supported Martin Pakula for the position, Crean attacked Conroy repeatedly, calling him to resign his position as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.
Internet Content Filtering
Senator Conroy actively supports the use of mandatory ISP level internet filters. [3] In October 2008, Senator Conroy announced that filtering of illegal material would be mandatory for all Australians, and there would be no opt-out provision.[4] The issue has generated substantial resistance from internet users, civil liberties groups and the Australian media.[5] After an Internode employee posted on the Whirlpool forum details about the substantial negative effects the filtering would have on internet services, one of Stephen Conroy's staff wrote a letter of complaint to the board of the ISP in an attempt to prevent such behaviour in future.[6]
Comparison with China
The government plan for filtering has been compared to the great firewall of China. Bevan Slattery (CEO of PIPE Networks) remarked that access history would be recorded against all Australians and used for political purposes:
I also fear that as every URL is now being checked it is highly likely that this, or a future government will require every URL to be recorded/retained against the account. So not only will Australian's Internet use be censored, but highly likely, be historically recorded for later investigation. Now we are in China. They will use "Child Pornography" as the tag to get the filter in place and "Terrorism" to get the URL history in place.[7]
References
- ^ Senator Stephen Conroy Parliament House page
- ^ Shadow ministry
- ^ Conroy announces mandatory internet filters to protect children - ABC News, 2007-12-31
- ^ Conroy announces no opt-out provision for filtering of illegal material
- ^ The High Price of Internet Filtering
- ^ Filtering out the fury: how government tried to gag web censor critics - Sydney Morning Herald, 2008 - 10-24
- ^ 'Appalled' opposition hits back at Conroy\u2019s Internet censorship - Techworld, 2008-10-24