<i>"... Any Australian HN readers could explain why Australia (or at least its government) seems to be obsessed with controlling the Internet? ..."</i><p>For the answer to that I think you might want to study the <i>"classics"</i>: rhetoric and the Roman Republic ~ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic</a> You will find all the answers there. Legacy seen through the lens of history has a way of sorting the <i>barbaric</i> from the <i>visionary</i> government.