Conroy Must Go

Senator Stephen Conroy is a Minister for Communications who seems intent on stifling communication - or what a Victorian encyclopedia belonging to my grandfather once quaintly called (in the caption under a sepia photograph of hundred of telegram boys on bicycles - but we won't go there) - "Intercourse with your Neighbour".

Conroy plans to introduce a so-called 'clean feed' internet filtering system that will supposedly deliver a porn and smut free internet to our homes. We all know how efficient filtering systems are.

What's more worrying is that if you want to have an unfiltered internet, you'll have to register for it - sign here for the mucky web, sir. Why not an 'opt-in' system?

He plans to allow employers virtually unfettered rights to read employees emails in case any of them should be closet terrorists.

And he's starving community radio and television of the essential funds to make the transition to digital broadcasting.

OK, so community TV is a bit rough - not surprising when they have so little money - but it's only marginally less palatable than the rest of the local product. And while the presentation may lack gloss, the content is sometimes fascinating.

Australian commercial TV is a disaster. Virtually the only watchable programs are made overseas, or by publicly funded stations like the ABC and SBS. Much trumpeted 'Australian drama' usually turns out to be half-baked twaddle about a bunch of lipstick jillaroos emoting their amply-siliconed tits off in the outback, with the occasionally artfully placed smear of red dirt on one cheek to denote 'working'. Or cringing somety-somethings suffering through a sea change, a tree-change or a a pee-change (a.k.a the male menopause).

Community radio is frequently better than either the commercial or subsidised product. But more to the point, these sectors service parts of the community largely ignored elsewhere.

As a gay man, that bothers me. Joy 94.9, Australia's only 24/7/365 rainbow radio station (GLBTIQQ if you insist) has more members than any other gay organisation in the country. It's based in Melbourne but broadcasts to the world via the internet. But that still doesn't give it enough money to go digital.

Clearly Conroy is out to run a Chinese style command and control communications system in this country, where the government controls what we can hear, see and read. For our own good, of course!!

Rudd may be cuddly but Conroys a menace.