Stephen Conroy apparently told the BBC that The filter laws will be introduced in parliament in August 2010 and will take a year to implement.
The Australian Electoral Commission states that:
- The earliest possible date for a joint House/Senate election is Saturday, 7 August 2010.
- The earliest possible date for a House of Representatives election is any Saturday, 33 days after dissolution of House.
- The earliest possible date for a Senate election is Saturday, 7 August
- The latest possible date for a joint House/Senate election is Saturday, 16 April 2011.
- The latest possible date for a House of Representatives election is Saturday, 16 April 2011.
- The latest possible date for a Senate election is *Saturday, 21 May 2011.
It is possible that the Communications Minister is being a little cute with his August 2010 date for the introduction of legislation.
If a federal election occurs in early August this year, Conroy would be introducing the Internet censorship legislation hot on the heels of this election (if the Rudd Government is re-elected). This possibility would obviously raise the proposed legislation's visibility during the preceding election campaign, with faith-based lobby groups swinging in behind the Labor re-election campaign in an attempt to ensure passage of the bill.
The latest possible election date would see Conroy still rolling out his compulsory national filtering scheme, but most Australian ISPs would probably be actively engaged in blocking blacklisted sites by then. This would result in a significant number of voters using the Internet going into polling booths very disgruntled with the Labor Party.
Any polling date between August 2010 and April/May 2011 would see political waters muddied by vigorous debate over details in the Rudd Government's censorship legislation or practical problems with the initial filtering roll-out.
Given the fact that this minister obviously holds to the popular political perception that having the Christian Right on your side is an advantage and has previously displayed a penchant for hiding pertinent policy details from the electorate prior to an election and then claiming a mandate for action immediately afterwards, it would appear that Senator Conroy may be hoping for an August 2010 federal election.
Either way, this leaves Australian citizens opposed to the Rudd Government's plan with only six months to make their opposition felt in the corridors of power.
