Hmm, my understanding of the government proposal is different. I've
just re-read the media release
http://www.dca.gov.au/mediarel/c12497.html
and it says that the government will 'facilitiate the creation of a
new peak body', but the implication is that the peak body will be a
collection of entities drawn from a wide range of interests, not
that the peak body will be a government entity.
The approach appears to be consistent with this government's
position over time on many of these sort of regulatory issues -
whether it be things like PKAF or the issue of management of
internet domain names, etc. The federal government generally has
shown a 'hands off' philosophy - the belief that certain of these
functions may be such a critical 'public good' that they should
remain completely under public (elected government) control does not
appear to be a view supported by the incumbent federal government.
As they were elected with a record majority only a year and a half
ago I assume that they are confident that the majority of
Australians support that view. Time will tell if they are right.
Regards, Mark
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Message From : HUGHES, MARK *
* Location : AUSTRALIA-CCA HDQ *
* KOMAIL ID : N17503 (CCAMCQN1) *
* Date and Time: 10/16/97 10:05:20 *
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