Helen Coonan
Encyclopedia
Helen Lloyd Coonan is a former Australian politician, who was a Liberal
member of the Australian Senate
representing New South Wales
from July 1996 to August 2011.
, New South Wales, attended the Mount Erin convent Catholic boarding school in Wagga Wagga
, and was educated at the University of Sydney
, where she gained a law degree. She was a barrister and solicitor before entering politics. She was Chair of the Board of Governors of the Law Foundation of New South Wales (1991–92).
, with a seat in the Cabinet, in July 2004. Her portfolio was responsible for overseeing the Australian broadcasting and telecommunications industries as well as the ICT sector and Australia Post
. Coonan was also the Senior Minister responsible for the Arts. She became Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate in January 2006, and was the first female in the Coalition Leadership team remaining in that role until the coalition was defeated at the polls on 24 November 2007.
was broadcast in parallel to the old analog television
signals. The stated plan was full handover to digital by 2008 and shutdown of all analog television
broadcast.
In September 2005, Coonan announced a review of the
digital television situation. It was noted that the government
had spent 1 billion dollars supporting the change from
analog TV to digital TV. The current plan to switch off analog
TV by 2008 in metropolitan areas and by 2011 in regional markets
was unlikely to be workable because takeup of digital
receivers had been poor.
The minister supervised the creation of "Digital Australia", a new federally funded government body for coordinating the transition to digital television. Andrew Townend (former COO of Digital UK) was appointed executive director in 2007.
using the "Eureka 147" technology, starting in metropolitan areas. There was no plan to phase out analog radio, but a 6 year moratorium on new BSB licenses was announced.
Internet Filtering
As far back as December 2004, Senator Coonan was under pressure from the religious conservative lobby, in particular Senator Harradine
.
Her answer demonstrated that mandatory filtering was under consideration.
Coonan also announced in August 2007 a $189 million package for the NetAlert programme. NetAlert is an ISP level Internet content filtering system designed to filter the Internet for 'safe' use in Australia. It represented a change from her 2006 policy to allow the ISP to remain a neutral carrier and encourage parents to install filters on their home PC, commenting at the time that "PC-based filtering remains the most effective way of protecting children from offensive Internet content, as well as other threats that are not addressed by Labor's ISP-filtering proposals." Tom Wood, a 16-year-old schoolboy from Melbourne, took only 30 minutes to find a way to bypass the expensive filtering system. An additional filter was made available shortly after which Tom cracked within 40 minutes.
, Minister for the Arts and Sport).
Film and television financing in Australia
has included generous government support since the 1970s. Similarly, music, fine arts and sport have also benefited from government funds.
's election as Leader of the Liberal Party, Coonan was replaced as Deputy Leader of Coalition in the Senate by Senator Eric Abetz. She became the Shadow Minister for Human Services, shadowing the Manager of Government Business in the Senate and Minister for Human Services, Senator Joe Ludwig
. When Malcolm Turnbull
defeated Brendan Nelson in a leadership ballot in September 2008, Coonan was appointed Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate and was elevated to the prestigious position of Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. She was the first woman to shadow the portfolio, and there has never been a female Foreign Minister either. Following Deputy Leader Julie Bishop
's resignation from the Shadow Treasury portfolio in February 2009, Coonan was moved into Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation, which had been vacated by Joe Hockey
, who picked up the Shadow Treasury role. With the increased responsibility of Finance, Coonan reliquished her position of Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate to Opposition Whip, Senator Stephen Parry
.
On 18 August 2011, Coonan informed the Senate in a speech that she would resign on 22 August. She has been offered a position on the board of gaming company Crown Limited
subject to regulatory approval.
|-
|-
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
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,...
representing 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...
from July 1996 to August 2011.
Early life
She was born in MangoplahMangoplah, New South Wales
Mangoplah is a town approximately south of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Mangoplah had a population of 689 people. Its name is believed to mean "Kooris singing" in the Wiradjuri aboriginal language....
, New South Wales, attended the Mount Erin convent Catholic boarding school in Wagga Wagga
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
Wagga Wagga is a city in New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, and with an urban population of 46,735 people, Wagga Wagga is the state's largest inland city, as well as an important agricultural, military, and transport hub of Australia...
, and was educated at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
, where she gained a law degree. She was a barrister and solicitor before entering politics. She was Chair of the Board of Governors of the Law Foundation of New South Wales (1991–92).
Member of Parliament
In 1996, Helen Coonan was elected to the federal Senate as a Liberal senator for New South Wales. She was re-elected in 2001 and appointed Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer (2001–04), making her the first woman to hold an Australian Treasury portfolio since Federation.Inspector-General of Taxation
As Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer, Coonan appointed Mr David R Vos AM as the first Inspector-General of Taxation during August 2003; following from the passage of the Inspector-General of Taxation Bill 2002 and providing an adviser to government in the interests of taxpayers.Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
Coonan was appointed Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the ArtsMinister 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:...
, with a seat in the Cabinet, in July 2004. Her portfolio was responsible for overseeing the Australian broadcasting and telecommunications industries as well as the ICT sector and Australia Post
Australia Post
Australia Post is the trading name of the Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation .-History:...
. Coonan was also the Senior Minister responsible for the Arts. She became Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate in January 2006, and was the first female in the Coalition Leadership team remaining in that role until the coalition was defeated at the polls on 24 November 2007.
Digital television
In July 2004, Australia was in a transitional phase: digital televisionDigital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
was broadcast in parallel to the old analog television
Analog television
Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...
signals. The stated plan was full handover to digital by 2008 and shutdown of all analog television
Analog television
Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...
broadcast.
In September 2005, Coonan announced a review of the
digital television situation. It was noted that the government
had spent 1 billion dollars supporting the change from
analog TV to digital TV. The current plan to switch off analog
TV by 2008 in metropolitan areas and by 2011 in regional markets
was unlikely to be workable because takeup of digital
receivers had been poor.
The minister supervised the creation of "Digital Australia", a new federally funded government body for coordinating the transition to digital television. Andrew Townend (former COO of Digital UK) was appointed executive director in 2007.
Digital Radio
In October 2005, Coonan released a plan for a staged rollout of Digital Audio BroadcastingDigital audio broadcasting
Digital Audio Broadcasting is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
using the "Eureka 147" technology, starting in metropolitan areas. There was no plan to phase out analog radio, but a 6 year moratorium on new BSB licenses was announced.
Media Ownership
Coonan was instrumental in promoting legislative changes to the cross-media and foreign ownership laws in the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Media Ownership) Bill 2006. The changes relaxed restrictions against cross-media ownership or control by a single company.Internet FilteringInternet filteringInternet filtering may refer to:* Content-control software* Internet censorship...
As far back as December 2004, Senator Coonan was under pressure from the religious conservative lobby, in particular Senator HarradineBrian Harradine
Richard William Brian Harradine , Australian politician, was an independent member of the Australian Senate from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving independent federal politician in Australian history, and a Father of the Senate.He was born in Quorn, South...
.
In 1999 the government introduced measures to counter the growing problem of offensive material on the Net when it introduced a comprehensive regulatory scheme which banned X-rated and restricted classification, or RC, material. As part of the program, the government also established NetAlert—which Senator Harradine is well aware of—to help children and families use and enjoy the Internet in a safe and responsible way.
Her answer demonstrated that mandatory filtering was under consideration.
Senator Harradine asked about mandatory filtering systems. Under the industry code of practice introduced by the government, all Australian Internet service providers are required to provide content filters for their customers at cost price or below. These tools allow parents to actively control the access their children have to the Internet from the family computer and to have some degree of confidence about the safety of their children online.
Coonan also announced in August 2007 a $189 million package for the NetAlert programme. NetAlert is an ISP level Internet content filtering system designed to filter the Internet for 'safe' use in Australia. It represented a change from her 2006 policy to allow the ISP to remain a neutral carrier and encourage parents to install filters on their home PC, commenting at the time that "PC-based filtering remains the most effective way of protecting children from offensive Internet content, as well as other threats that are not addressed by Labor's ISP-filtering proposals." Tom Wood, a 16-year-old schoolboy from Melbourne, took only 30 minutes to find a way to bypass the expensive filtering system. An additional filter was made available shortly after which Tom cracked within 40 minutes.
Federal support for the arts
Part of Helen Coonan's ministerial responsibility was to oversee support for the Arts in Australia (a responsibility shared with George BrandisGeorge Brandis
George Henry Brandis, SC , Australian politician, has been a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing Queensland since May 2000.-Education & Early Career:...
, Minister for the Arts and Sport).
Film and television financing in Australia
Film and television financing in Australia
Film and TV financing in Australia refers to government assistance to TV and cinema in Australia. Over the past 30 years, government assistance has involved a mixture of government support, distributor/ broadcaster involvement and private investment...
has included generous government support since the 1970s. Similarly, music, fine arts and sport have also benefited from government funds.
Opposition (post-2007 Election)
Following the Liberal/National Coalition's defeat at the 2007 federal election and Brendan NelsonBrendan Nelson
Dr Brendan John Nelson is a former Australian politician and former federal Opposition leader. He served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives from the 1996 federal election until 19 October 2009 as the Liberal member for Bradfield, a northern Sydney seat...
's election as Leader of the Liberal Party, Coonan was replaced as Deputy Leader of Coalition in the Senate by Senator Eric Abetz. She became the Shadow Minister for Human Services, shadowing the Manager of Government Business in the Senate and Minister for Human Services, Senator Joe Ludwig
Joe Ludwig
Senator the Hon Joseph William Ludwig , Australian politician, has been a member of the Australian Senate for the state of Queensland since July 1999, representing the Australian Labor Party.-Biography:...
. When Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division...
defeated Brendan Nelson in a leadership ballot in September 2008, Coonan was appointed Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate and was elevated to the prestigious position of Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. She was the first woman to shadow the portfolio, and there has never been a female Foreign Minister either. Following Deputy Leader Julie Bishop
Julie Bishop
Julie Isabel Bishop is an Australian politician and the current Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Australia. She holds this title as the deputy leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. She is the party's first female Deputy Leader and the third woman in Australian history to...
's resignation from the Shadow Treasury portfolio in February 2009, Coonan was moved into Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation, which had been vacated by Joe Hockey
Joe Hockey
Joseph Benedict "Joe" Hockey , is an Australian politician and member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of North Sydney for the Liberal Party of Australia since 1996....
, who picked up the Shadow Treasury role. With the increased responsibility of Finance, Coonan reliquished her position of Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate to Opposition Whip, Senator Stephen Parry
Stephen Parry (politician)
Stephen Shane Parry , Australian politician, has been a Liberal Party member of the Australian Senate since July 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was elected Government Deputy Whip in the Senate in November 2006 and elected Government Whip in April 2007 in succession to the late...
.
On 18 August 2011, Coonan informed the Senate in a speech that she would resign on 22 August. She has been offered a position on the board of gaming company Crown Limited
Crown Limited
Crown Limited is one of Australia's largest gaming and entertainment groups. At June 2010, Crown Limited had a market capitalisation of just over A$6 billion and accounted for 27.53% of the S&P/ASX 200 Hotels Restaurants & Leisure Industry Group....
subject to regulatory approval.
External links
|-
|-