DBCDE’s NBN Website Taken Offline [Updated]

Tony Abbott’s government hasn’t even been sworn in yet, and already the furniture is starting to be moved around, starting with the shelving of the National Broadband Network Company’s official government site.

This story has been significantly updated since its first publication. nbn.gov.au is the website that has been taken down. A type meant that nbnco.gov.au was originally referenced. nbn.gov.au is a government website containing ads for the National Broadband Network managed by the DBCDE. Gizmodo apologises for any confusion.

The site — nbnco.gov.au — has been shelved in light of the election result, and now redirects to a placeholder page managed by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. It previously held a bunch of information about the NBN policy, as well as ads for the National Broadband Network itself. It now reads:

“Content of the Department website in relation to the National Broadband Network (NBN) is currently under review. The review will occur in the context of the new Government’s policy,” the placeholder site reads.

Why has this happened?

Well, when an election is called, the Parliament and all the departments associated with it go into what’s known as “Caretaker Mode”. Caretaker Mode is a fancy way of saying that nothing new will be done or decided upon until after the General Election when a new Ministry is appointed. In this case, it has to be appointed by Prime Minister-Elect Tony Abbott once he’s sworn in next week.

After that, the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy will work with the new Communications Minister — be it Malcolm Turnbull or otherwise — to shape the new site around the new Government’s policy, which in this case, features a focus on a fibre to the node roll-out.

The old policy — and as a result, the old site — was full of spruiky references to fibre to the home, hence the need for the change.

You can still access an archived version of the NBN Co website here if you pine for the past, but its now a relic of a bygone age. [DBCDE]