Stephen Conroy
Encyclopedia
Stephen Michael Conroy (born 18 January 1963 in Ely
, Cambridgeshire, England) is an Australian politician and the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in the Gillard Ministry
. He has been an Australian Labor Party
member of the Australian Senate
since May 1996, representing the state of Victoria
.
. He obtained a Bachelor of Economics at the Australian National University
in Canberra. His involvement in student politics was minimal, although he helped organise a rally against student fees.
and Barry Jones
. He moved to Melbourne to pursue a political career where he met Robert Ray
, and served for a time as Superannuation Officer with the Transport Workers Union
and as a City of Footscray
councillor.
He was appointed to the Senate in 1996 when Gareth Evans
resigned to contest a seat in the Lower House. In October 1998, Conroy joined the Opposition Shadow Ministry and became Deputy Opposition Leader in the Senate. He was Shadow Minister for Trade, Corporate Governance and Financial Services from 2003 to 2004, and became Shadow Minister for Communications and Information Technology in October 2004.
Conroy is a leading member of the Labor Right
and was criticised in early 2006 by members of the Socialist Left and Simon Crean
for working for the replacement of several long-serving MPs with new members, including Bill Shorten
, Richard Marles
, Mark Dreyfus
, Nathan Murphy and Matt Carrick.
After Simon Crean's win in the Hotham
pre-selection, where Conroy supported Martin Pakula for the position, Crean attacked Conroy repeatedly, calling on him to resign his position as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.
In April 2009, Conroy faced criticism after he made comments disparaging the ISP iiNet
's defence in a Supreme Court case against a number of film studios and Channel Seven
. Opposition spokesmen described the comments as prejudicial. After iiNet won, Conroy said it was disappointing the two sides had ended up in court.
In February 2010, he admitted using his influence to have a former Labor politician Mike Kaiser
, take the position of Government Relations and External Affairs Executive with the National Broadband Network
Kaiser was previously forced to retire from the Labor party due to electoral fraud.
Also in February 2010, he was reported to spent some time while on holiday with Kerry Stokes
weeks before cutting license fees that are charged to free-to-air networks, including Stokes' broadcasting network, Channel Seven
.
In June 2010, Conroy was criticized by SAGE-AU
for "misinformation that verged on fear-mongering" when he suggested Google
street view cars could have captured internet banking details in their recording of wireless network traffic, as these are generally exchanged over secure HTTPS
connections.
in the First Rudd Ministry
. In that role, he is responsible for internet censorship
, the proposed National Broadband Network
, and the proposed switch to digital television
as a complete replacement for analogue. In May 2010 he was appointed as a founding member to a new United Nations commission, the Broadband Commission for Digital Development
.
. About half of the list was child-porn related; the remainder included sites dealing with legal porn, online gambling, euthanasia, Christianity and fringe religions; sites belonging to a tour operator, dentist and animal carers were also listed. Conroy described the leak and publication of the blacklist as "grossly irresponsible" and that it undermined efforts to improve "cyber safety".
In June 2009 he was named "Internet villain of the year" at the 11th annual Internet industry awards in the UK, for "individuals or organisations that have upset the Internet industry and hampered its development – those whom the industry loves to hate."
In December 2009 "Internet pranksters" registered the domain name stephenconroy.com.au which was swiftly removed by auDA raising concerns about auDA's political neutrality and the further potential for suppression of political speech after the proposed mandatory Internet filter is legislated.
In May 2010, Conroy was accused of deliberately misrepresenting iiNet's position with regards to the new internet filter. His department could also not say where he obtained other figures from, such as how he believes that 85% of ISPs support the new filter.
Conroy and his wife, Paula Benson, have a daughter born in November 2006 with the assistance of an egg donor and a surrogate mother, both friends of the Conroys. The procedures were performed in New South Wales
instead of their home state Victoria, where altruistic surrogacy is banned.
He was a national volleyball representative as a teenager and has been the President of Volleyball Victoria since 2004.
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
, Cambridgeshire, England) is an Australian politician and the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in the Gillard Ministry
Gillard Ministry
The First Gillard Ministry was the 66th Australian ministry. It was led by Julia Gillard of the Australian Labor Party.The Gillard Ministry took effect on 24 June 2010 with the swearing in of Julia Gillard as Prime Minister and Wayne Swan as Deputy Prime Minister. All the members of former Prime...
. He has been an Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
member of the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
since May 1996, representing the state of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
.
Early life
Conroy's parents worked at an air-force base, where his mother Jean monitored radar and his father Bill was a sergeant. In December 1973 the Conroys moved to Canberra, where he attended Daramalan CollegeDaramalan College
Daramalan College is an ACT senior high school in Canberra, Australia, located in the suburb of Dickson, near the Dickson Shopping Centre. It provides education from year 7 to year 12 , in a co-educational environment. Run by the Roman Catholic Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, it has an emblem of...
. He obtained a Bachelor of Economics at the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
in Canberra. His involvement in student politics was minimal, although he helped organise a rally against student fees.
Politics
After university, Conroy worked as an advisor to Ros KellyRos Kelly
Ros Kelly AO was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating....
and Barry Jones
Barry Jones (Australian politician)
Barry Owen Jones AO, FAA, FASSA, FAHA, FTSE, FACE is a writer, lawyer, social activist, quiz champion and former politician. He campaigned against the death penalty throughout the 1960s, particularly against the execution of Ronald Ryan, and remains against capital punishment...
. He moved to Melbourne to pursue a political career where he met Robert Ray
Robert Ray (Australian politician)
Robert Francis Ray , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Senate from July 1981 to May 2008, representing the state of Victoria....
, and served for a time as Superannuation Officer with the Transport Workers Union
Transport Workers Union of Australia
The Transport Workers Union of Australia is a trade union with over 80,000 members throughout Australia. It has 5 main branches in Australia* Australian Capital Territory/New South Wales* Queensland* Victoria/Tasmania...
and as a City of Footscray
City of Footscray
The City of Footscray was a Local Government Area located about west of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1859 until 1994.-History:...
councillor.
He was appointed to the Senate in 1996 when Gareth Evans
Gareth Evans (politician)
Gareth John Evans, AO, QC , is a former Australian politician from 1978 to 1999 representing the Australian Labor Party, serving in a number of ministries including Attorney-General and Foreign Minister from 1983 to 1996 in the Hawke and Keating governments. He was president and chief executive...
resigned to contest a seat in the Lower House. In October 1998, Conroy joined the Opposition Shadow Ministry and became Deputy Opposition Leader in the Senate. He was Shadow Minister for Trade, Corporate Governance and Financial Services from 2003 to 2004, and became Shadow Minister for Communications and Information Technology in October 2004.
Conroy is a leading member of the Labor Right
Labor Right
The Labor Right, or Labor Unity in some State branches, or Centre Unity in NSW, is the organised faction of the Australian Labor Party that tends to be more economically liberal and socially conservative than Labor Left....
and was criticised in early 2006 by members of the Socialist Left and Simon Crean
Simon Crean
Simon Findlay Crean is an Australian politician, and the current Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government in the Australian Federal Government. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level,...
for working for the replacement of several long-serving MPs with new members, including Bill Shorten
Bill Shorten
William Richard "Bill" Shorten is an Australian politician, the Member for Maribyrnong in the Australian Parliament, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Superannuation and Financial Services. He was the Parliamentary Secretary for Disability and Children's Services in the Rudd/Gillard Government...
, Richard Marles
Richard Marles
Richard Donald Marles is the Australian Labor Party member for the Victorian federal seat of Corio, based on Geelong. Marles is the son of Donald Marles, a former headmaster of Trinity Grammar School, and Faye Marles, Victoria's first Equal Opportunity Commissioner and later Chancellor of the...
, Mark Dreyfus
Mark Dreyfus
Mark Alfred Dreyfus QC , Australian lawyer and politician, is the Australian Labor Party member for the House of Representatives seat of Isaacs, Victoria. He was elected in the 2007 federal election.- Early life :...
, Nathan Murphy and Matt Carrick.
After Simon Crean's win in the Hotham
Division of Hotham
The Division of Hotham is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1969 and is named for Sir Charles Hotham, Governor of Victoria 1854-55. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Hotham covers an area of approximately 72 square kilometres from...
pre-selection, where Conroy supported Martin Pakula for the position, Crean attacked Conroy repeatedly, calling on him to resign his position as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.
In April 2009, Conroy faced criticism after he made comments disparaging the ISP iiNet
IiNet
iiNet Limited is Australia's second largest internet service provider with over 1.3 million customers as of 15th August 2011. Their focus is primarily on ADSL-based Internet access, using their own ADSL2+ infrastructure, and reselling Telstra ADSL1. iiNet also provides dial-up and voice...
's defence in a Supreme Court case against a number of film studios and Channel Seven
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
. Opposition spokesmen described the comments as prejudicial. After iiNet won, Conroy said it was disappointing the two sides had ended up in court.
In February 2010, he admitted using his influence to have a former Labor politician Mike Kaiser
Mike Kaiser
Michael Hans "Mike" Kaiser is an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 2000 to 2001, representing the electorate of Woodridge...
, take the position of Government Relations and External Affairs Executive with the National Broadband Network
National Broadband Network
The National Broadband Network is a national wholesale-only, open-access data network under development in Australia. Up to one gigabit per second connections are sold to retail service providers , who then sell Internet access and other services to consumers...
Kaiser was previously forced to retire from the Labor party due to electoral fraud.
Also in February 2010, he was reported to spent some time while on holiday with Kerry Stokes
Kerry Stokes
Kerry Matthew Stokes AC is an Australian businessman. He holds business interests in a diverse range of industries including electronic and print media, property, mining, and construction equipment. He is most widely known as the chairman of the Seven Network, one of the largest broadcasting...
weeks before cutting license fees that are charged to free-to-air networks, including Stokes' broadcasting network, Channel Seven
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
.
In June 2010, Conroy was criticized by SAGE-AU
SAGE-AU
SAGE-AU is an Australian non-profit professional association of system administrators. SAGE-AU was originally formed to provide the same services for Australian system administrators as the SAGE organisation did in the United States, but is completely independent of that entity, and has been since...
for "misinformation that verged on fear-mongering" when he suggested Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
street view cars could have captured internet banking details in their recording of wireless network traffic, as these are generally exchanged over secure HTTPS
Https
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure is a combination of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol with SSL/TLS protocol to provide encrypted communication and secure identification of a network web server...
connections.
Portfolio
Conroy is Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital EconomyMinister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (Australia)
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is currently Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy. He replaced Senator the Hon Helen Coonan on 3 December 2007.-Portfolio:...
in the First Rudd Ministry
First Rudd Ministry
The Rudd Ministry was the 65th Australian Commonwealth ministry. It was led by Kevin Rudd of the Australian Labor Party.The Ministry was sworn in by the 24th Governor-General of Australia Major-General Michael Jeffery on 3 December 2007, following the 2007 election, and it ended on 24 June 2010...
. In that role, he is responsible for internet censorship
Internet censorship in Australia
Internet censorship in Australia currently consists of a regulatory regime under which the Australian Communications and Media Authority has the power to enforce content restrictions on Internet content hosted within Australia, and maintain a "black-list" of overseas websites which is then...
, the proposed National Broadband Network
National Broadband Network
The National Broadband Network is a national wholesale-only, open-access data network under development in Australia. Up to one gigabit per second connections are sold to retail service providers , who then sell Internet access and other services to consumers...
, and the proposed switch to digital television
Freeview (Australia)
Freeview is the brand given to the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia. It is intended to bring all of the free-to-air broadcasters on to a consistent marketing platform to compete against subscription television, in particular Foxtel, and coincides with the expansion to 3 digital...
as a complete replacement for analogue. In May 2010 he was appointed as a founding member to a new United Nations commission, the Broadband Commission for Digital Development
Broadband Commission for Digital Development
The Broadband Commission for Digital Development was established in May 2010 as a joint initiative by the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization...
.
Internet censorship
Conroy has faced severe criticism over his Internet censorship policies from various groups. While initially promoted as a way to block child pornography, the censorship policy has been extended to include legal material traditionally refused classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification, including sites depicting drug use, crime, sex, cruelty, violence or "revolting and abhorrent phenomena" that "offend against the standards of morality". On 19 March 2009 it was reported that ACMA's blacklist of banned sites had been leaked online, and had been published by WikileaksWikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
. About half of the list was child-porn related; the remainder included sites dealing with legal porn, online gambling, euthanasia, Christianity and fringe religions; sites belonging to a tour operator, dentist and animal carers were also listed. Conroy described the leak and publication of the blacklist as "grossly irresponsible" and that it undermined efforts to improve "cyber safety".
In June 2009 he was named "Internet villain of the year" at the 11th annual Internet industry awards in the UK, for "individuals or organisations that have upset the Internet industry and hampered its development – those whom the industry loves to hate."
In December 2009 "Internet pranksters" registered the domain name stephenconroy.com.au which was swiftly removed by auDA raising concerns about auDA's political neutrality and the further potential for suppression of political speech after the proposed mandatory Internet filter is legislated.
In May 2010, Conroy was accused of deliberately misrepresenting iiNet's position with regards to the new internet filter. His department could also not say where he obtained other figures from, such as how he believes that 85% of ISPs support the new filter.
Personal life
Senator Conroy is a Catholic, and is said to be socially conservative. While he voted against the abortion drug RU486 in a conscience vote, he has claimed not to have taken a conservative position on all issues:"I think the point I made was that while I would prefer there to be a parliamentary framework for the RU486, I think it was, debate, if the actual issue was before Parliament I would probably vote for the distribution of the pill. People often say, oh no Steve's a conservative Catholic, but they won't ever find on my voting record something that backs that up. I voted against the Northern Territory's euthanasia legislation. I voted for some of the cloning debate. So I voted in, I like to consider the issues on their merits and I voted what some would characterise as conservatively and some would characterise as progressively on a number of issues."
Conroy and his wife, Paula Benson, have a daughter born in November 2006 with the assistance of an egg donor and a surrogate mother, both friends of the Conroys. The procedures were performed in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
instead of their home state Victoria, where altruistic surrogacy is banned.
He was a national volleyball representative as a teenager and has been the President of Volleyball Victoria since 2004.