12. MARYAN STREET (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister for Information Technology
What feedback has he received on the Government’s promotion of information technology?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister for Information Technology) Link to this
Last week New Zealand hosted the successful Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) conference, which was attended by over 750 international experts. New Zealand also chaired a parallel meeting of Pacific communications Ministers that decided to support a regional digital strategy, based on a Wellington declaration, which included investigation of joint purchasing of satellite bandwidth and a regional approach to anti-spam.
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
During the Icann conference, I met with Dr Vint Cerf, the Chairman of Icann and well known as the “father of the Internet”. He told me that New Zealand’s broadband performance was far too low, and urged the Government to accelerate development in that area. The Government is currently undertaking a stocktake of the telecommunications regulatory environment. Announcements on the outcome of that process will be made by mid-year.
Hon Maurice Williamson Link to this
How confident is the Minister of reaching the targets set down in the Digital Strategy, which he released, of New Zealand being in the top half of the OECD for broadband uptake by next year, and in the top quartile for broadband uptake by the year 2010?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
I have a high degree of confidence that measures being developed within the regulatory stocktake will improve New Zealand’s performance towards those goals.
Hon Maurice Williamson Link to this
My question was not about how much progress had been made towards those goals; I guess that if we made one position move, the Minister would claim progress. My question was simply this: how confident is he that we will meet those targets laid out in the Digital Strategy of our being in the top half of the OECD by next year— given that we are 22nd at present—and in the top quartile by 2010?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
It is very pleasing to have the Opposition’s support for the contention that we are 22nd out of 30, and that that is not good enough. This Government is determined to improve New Zealand’s broadband performance, and is moving expeditiously to that end.
Hon Maurice Williamson Link to this
How can the Minister claim that the Government is “moving expeditiously”, when the issue of broadband penetration has been an issue for debate ever since this Government came to power, it is now heading towards its 7th year in office, and the Prime Minister in the Prime Minister’s statement this year said that the Government is “looking into it”?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
I would have thought it was in that member’s interest not to have that question answered, as he was the Minister who presided over 10 years of inaction, when his Government did nothing to improve the telecommunications environment—and he was famous for it.