The Goldsworthy Report: Credibility and Australian Information Policy

Abstract

Recent Australian federal government statements on information policy can be seen as manifesting a tension, and possibility a deeper crisis of credibility. On the one hand, the rhetoric of global neo-liberalism emphasises the ‘ungovernability’ of the global information infrastructure and the need to forsake interventionist approaches by nation-states. On the other, documents such as the Goldsworthy Report promote a supply-side economic nationalism, premised upon incentives to encourage new investment in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. It is argued that national initiatives are important in a global information economy, but that the Goldsworthy Report's approach is flawed by its neglect of issues of consumer demand and equitable access. Consideration of these issues points to a need for a different vision of information policy, which stresses its social, cultural and community development aspect as well as economic outcomes.