Tony Abbott: Malcolm Turnbull Invented The Internet In Australia

Yep. He said it.

Maybe someone should stop Opposition Leader Tony Abbott from talking about internet from now until forever.

The Opposition Leader is holding a lofty policy discussion in Canberra right now in the lead-up to the 2013 Election, and in it he spoke briefly about his Shadow Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull:

“We have a strong and credible broadband policy because the man who has devised it, the man who will implement it virtually invented the Internet in this country. Thank you so much, Malcolm Turnbull.”

Let’s fact-check that for a moment, shall we?

Abbott is clearly referring to Malcolm Turnbull’s time at one of Australia’s first ISPs, OzEmail back in the 1990’s. OzEmail came to be in 1992 when the editor of Australian Personal Computer sold his stake of the magazine to ACP to focus on his email service provider, originally dubbed MicroTex.

Fast-forward two years and Malcolm Turnbull enters the picture, investing in the company to the tune of $500,000. He later sold his stake for $57 million in 1999.

I don’t see any internet inventing going on there. Just a smart businessman, doing his thang.

This quote is now on trend to become this election campaign’s “I’m no Bill Gates“.

The full speech is here.

Discuss.