MDofPerth

You asked: "What do you think the benefits to Australia of the digital economy are? How do you think we can ensure that those benefits are enjoyed by all Australians?" Governments have a poor record of trying to guess market directions and "pick winners". However, there is an active and engaged market of internet service providers spending their own money (rather than the taxpayer's) to bet on such things and doing a rather good job of it. Let them at it and they will provide services that the community wants, or they will die trying. Example: Please avoid funding Telstra to strengthen their self-serving monopoly on network infrastructure. Allowing Telstra to bid late with a non-compliant bid for the National Broadband project was a very bad sign - it looks like favouritism or even corruption (although it might just be incompetence). In fact, a govt funded national broadband project is a bad idea even if it does not get handed to the monopoly player; such an initiative is not market driven so its deliverables are unlikely to meet demand. Failure is very likely because the parameters are to deliver 2008 levels of bandwidth in about 2010. Such levels are impressive today, but they will not serve community needs three years hence when the world has moved on. In the words of Bob Dylan: "Come senators, congressmen; Please heed the call; Don't stand in the doorway; Don't block up the hall". In other words, please do not interfere with the digital economy - it's working just fine, and will continue to so long as it remains free from big brotherly manipulation.