Features, News - Thursday, June 24, 2010 17:41 - 0 Comments

The day of the spill: Australia’s tech sector reacts

The Labor leadership spill events of the past 24 hours that have led to the swearing-in of Julia Gillard as Australia’s first female Prime Minister have been an emotional roller coaster for the Australian public — it has an been an attention-grabbing blockbuster of Hollywood proportions.

The implications of future change due to the leadership spill to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector could be huge — especially if Communications Minister Stephen Conroy loses his portfolio. Major players in the ICT industry were contacted by Delimiter today to gather their thoughts on the political earthquake that shook this southern nation’s breaches off.

Telstra was positive in its feedback regarding Gillard’s rise to Prime Minister and is already taking proactive steps to cement an amiable relationship with her office. “The CEO and the chairman will be writing to Ms Gillard to congratulate her on her elevation to the Prime Ministership. Telstra looks forward to working with her and her government,” the company said in a statement.

Communications giant Optus was not phased by the changes and remained fixed on the fact that Gillard will continue to stand by the National Broadband Network scheme.

An Optus Spokesperson said, “Optus looks forward to continuing to work with the Federal Government to implement the National Broadband Network and put in place important regulatory reform in the telecommunications sector.”

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