The Australian Point of order PM, you've got mail By MICHELLE GILCHRIST 15aug00 VITRIOL and invective are already an artform in federal parliament, but now politicians can heckle their opponents by email. With the introduction yesterday of laptop computers and the internet to the House of Representatives and the Senate, parliamentary officers hope politicians will be more connected to the outside world. MPs can take a laptop computer into parliament and surf the net, answer emails and liaise with their offices from their seat. They can also use the parliamentary intranet to confer with colleagues and, in theory, taunt rivals. Federal parliament has followed the Victorian parliament and installed computer cables in both chambers. It is possible for a concerned citizen to watch a parliamentary debate being webcast live on the internet, fire off an email to the politician speaking and see that MP read their messages during the debate. Not every politician welcomed the internet invasion of parliament, with one grumbling that the bathroom was their last email-free zone. Senator Kate Lundy, the Opposition spokeswoman on information technology, said she welcomed the chance to have online interaction with people, something she has tagged "cyber-democracy". To email a federal politician, visit the website at http://www.aph.gov.au and click on Feedback on members' and senators' home pages -- ********************************** 'Click' to protect the rainforest: Make the Rainforest Site your homepage! http://www.therainforestsite.com/ ********************************** ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
