Writer
Laurie Patton
Laurie Patton is a prominent public interest advocacy and marketing/communications practitioner. He is a former political advisor, journalist and media executive. He is the NSW regional convenor for the Australian Republic Movement.
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LAURIE PATTON. More broadband porkies. Buying an NBN pig in a poke
To quote veteran IT journalist Sam Varghese,“NBN Co’s latest attempt to put lipstick on a pig – the animal in this case being the network it is building and the make-up in question being speed – goes one step further than the ‘alternative facts’ which its former chief executive, Bill Morrow, used to dish out”. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Telstra should stop whinging and help fix our dud NBN
Earlier in the week Telstra chair, John Mullen, conceded that the company must accept some of the blame for our flawed National Broadband Network due to its ‘recalcitrance’ back in 2007/2008 when it submitted a bid that didn’t meet the requirements of the government tender to build a nationwide network. As Mr Mullen also observed, Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Miscommunication. Paul Fletcher spins his top like turvey
Communications minister Paul Fletcher spoke at an industry conference and outdid his Coalition predecessors in an extraordinary attempt to defend the beleaguered National Broadband Network. These are just some of the comments he made to an incredulous audience of IT professionals who know so much more than he does. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Time to stop digging our way out of trouble. A lesson from the past?
For the foreseeable future Australia will rely on mining for economic growth and to maintain our current standard of living. Yet unresolved debates over a number of proposed coal mines have exposed a rift in political circles that may well determine the outcome of the next federal election, just as the issue had a major Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. How Malcolm Turnbull missed his chance to fix the NBN
Internet access is now the most complained about telco service in Australia according to the Telecommunications Ombudsman’s latest report. While complaints about mobile phones have been on the decline recently, the state of our trouble-plagued NBN continues to see consumers heading to the authorities in the faint hope their broadband problems can be fixed. Alas, Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Barbarians at the gate – don’t let them destroy Murray Valley national park
The New South Wales deputy premier wants to allow logging in a national park in the state’s Riverina. John Barilaro says he intends removing statutory protection of the 42,000 hectare Murray Valley National Park – either by de-gazetting the entire area or reducing its size. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. The Assange dilemma. What is journalism in the online age?
Julian Assange released bulk material, unfiltered and uncorroborated, via the Internet. If he had leaked it directly to the media outlets that subsequently, but selectively, published reports based on his WikiLeaks’ dumps he probably would not be in gaol facing extradition to the United States. His identity as a ‘source’ would have been protected. Ironically, any American journalists who used Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. It’s the vision, stupid! Why we need #BetterBroadband
While neither side of politics is saying much about our increasingly-maligned National Broadband Network during the election period, the fact is Australia is falling behind in the race to leverage the benefits – economic and social – of an emerging digitally-enabled future. Irrespective of the outcome of the election we need #BetterBroadband and we need a Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Labor spells out its NBN rescue plan
Labor’s communications spokesperson, Michelle Rowland, has outlined a very sensible approach to fixing the dud NBN. In fact, should the Coalition retain office it would be well advised to adopt Labor’s plan. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Fair trade or exploitation – the ‘warehousing’ of Internet domain names.
auDA – the company managing our Internet domain name registration system – is engaged in a reform program. This follows a review by the communications department which called for major governance changes. auDA has released a discussion paper and has called for public submissions on a range of proposed policy and operational changes. This is being accompanied by a consultation Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. The NBN’s year of reckoning
2019 is shaping up as the year we’ll be forced to face the fact we are building a National Broadband Network that simply isn’t good enough. It’s also the year our major telcos will start rolling out their capital-intensive 5G mobile networks, having spent millions of dollars buying up spectrum from the federal government. However, Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. It’s poor planning, not the size of the population, that’s the problem
As Christopher Pyne has pointed out, “We don’t need to put a handbrake on population growth, we need to manage our population growth sensibly in a country which quite frankly can take a lot more than 25 million people”. Pyne comes from Adelaide, of course, where the state government says it would like to see Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Time to ditch our dud NBN – beaten by the ‘All Blacks of Broadband’
The contrast could not be any starker. As warnings emerged that Australia’s telcos are seeing their profits squeezed by the end of NBN Co’s short-lived wholesale price discount (with the likelihood that retail prices will rise), across the ditch came word that New Zealanders are about so see their broadband speeds greatly increase while the price Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. ACCC begins search for light at the end of the NBN technology tunnel
The boss of the ACCC, Rod Sims, has told The Australian “its recent dealings with the retail telcos has highlighted a weakness with the fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) access technology”. For numerous broadband experts, not to mention millions of hapless NBN customers, this might be seen as a classic ‘no shit Sherlock’ moment. However, it is probably the Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Planning for smart cities – Code of Practice released
“Enhanced telecommunications connectivity, data insights, digital planning practices and innovation districts” will underpin the creation of so-called ‘smart cities’. That’s the theme of a Code of Practice released this week as part of Smart Cities Week Australia. Developed by leading smart cities advocacy group the Smart Cities Council and the Green Building Council of Australia the voluntary code is designed Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. The NBN sinks deeper into a technological mire.
Oh dear! This week new NBN Co boss Steven Rue told Senate Estimates they are still projecting that FTTN (the trouble-plagued technology using Telstra’s ageing copper wires) will be used until 2040. Experts, including Internet Australia chair Dr Paul Brooks, say FTTN will have to be replaced within 5-10 years of completion, preferably before then. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Common sense prevails in battle over Internet domain names service.
Despite a nasty and at times irrational campaign by a small dissident group, the future of Australia’s Internet domain names system was secured last week. A meeting of members overwhelmingly approved a new constitution and consequential governance changes to auDA – the company that oversees management of our domain names service. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. It’s time to clean up the Internet
This week a new CEO joined the Internet Society – the global not-for-profit overseeing the development of the Internet since1992. In his first official statement Andrew Sullivan noted that it’s a challenging time for the Internet. I agree. Which is why this article, originally posted back in June, still resonates. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. auDA reveals new governance model following government review.
auDA – the body overseeing the management of our Internet domain names system – has released the details of a new governance model. This follows a review by the Department of Communications and the Arts that saw communications minister Mitch Fifield give the organisation three months to deal with a range of matters DoCA said meant it was no longer fit Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Sticks and stones – Attempted coup at auDA flounders on disinterest.
The proposition that there’s widespread member concern at the state of auDA – the company managing our Internet domain names – has been dealt a definitive blow. The vote at a Special General Meeting to decide the fate of three directors, including independent chair Chris Leptos, saw them retain their positions. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Public servants, political appointments and good government.
Earlier this week what was widely perceived as two highly political appointments to plum roles in the federal public service highlighted a need to re-examine government administration in the 21st Century. Not because these appointments were necessarily inappropriate, but because they exposed a basic disconnect. We still like to pretend we have an olde-worlde apolitical Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Domain names issue closer to resolution.
Next week the group attempting to oust board directors at Internet domain names authority auDA will have an opportunity to explain in detail the reasons for their concern and their solutions. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. The NBN won’t be finished on time. Simple as that!
In my opinion, the NBN will not be a completed project until everyone has access to fast, reliable broadband. On that basis, the rollout will take us well beyond the currently projected deadline of 2020. What’s worse, it will end up having cost more than the original 2009 version and far more than then communications Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Is Telstra simply unmanageable right now?
What happens when you take a dysfunctional government corporation, privatise it, and then allow it to pretty much do as it likes? The answer to that question is at the heart of what is no doubt keeping Andrew Penn awake at night. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. You can’t privatise an organisation that doesn’t make a profit!
The ABC earns around $100 million a year from its commercial activities (mainly ABC shops). Its annual operating budget is more than a billion dollars. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Community tv – needed now more than ever.
Last week the Government announced a further two year extension on its deadline for community television stations to vacate their free-to-air spectrum. The death knell first rang back in September 2014 when then communications minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that all CTV licences would end in December 2015. Since then the sector has limped on courtesy Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Facts and fiction: More on the auDA situation.
auDA – the organisation charged with managing the Internet domain name space on behalf of the federal government – is currently undergoing a review of its operations. As we approach a Special General Meeting to be held on 21 July 2018 I decided to throw a few pertinent questions at CEO Cameron Boardman. As I’ve previously written, Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Consultation group to help reshape Internet domain names management.
With three months to develop new processes to redress historical weaknesses the company managing Australia’s Internet domain names has created a broad-based consultative group to guide the process. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. What’s going on at auDA? The battle over Internet domain names.
Anyone who uses an Internet domain name – which means most Australian companies, educational institutions, government departments and not-for-profits – should know what’s currently happening with the domain names registration process. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Vindicated: NBN Co. boss admits multi-technology mix (MTM) flaws.
The departing head of the trouble-plagued NBN, Bill Morrow, has finally come clean. He has finally conceded that reusing Telstra’s ageing copper wires is creating major problems. Continue reading »