.net.au division is bad enough... imagine if users had to contend
  with .biz.au, .firm.au, .cpa.au, .vet.au and so on. I don't think
  they'd cope!

This is reducing back to the directory concept. There are good reasons
to think they can cope, .de and .ca and .tm come to mind. Likewise
there are competent bodies which can vest authority in their namespace
such as the law societies, or professional bodies, and while there is
an argument to let ANYONE claim names in these spaces and then let the
defence or rebuttal take place elsewhere, there are also arguments to
let these people decide to self-resource and run this as a monopoly, or
to require them to use a wider set of registrars, its for auDA to decide
at the policy level.
  
  I don't believe so. The two scenarios I envisage are:
  
  1. The money goes to line the pockets of Melbourne IT's shareholders

This is unlikely. if you read the panel outputs its very clear no
change to policy is going to be made in advance of a competitive regime
being established. If M-IT do well in that scenario it won't be because
of collusive practice, it might just be because they do their job well.
  
  2. The money goes into the government's general revenue and funds a
  1c per litre cut in fuel excise for Australia's primary industry
  further reinforcing Australia's third world economy.
  
This is more likely in the long term if we don't manage to run this
as a self-managed resource. And, as a taxpayer and a recipient of
tax funded benefits, I find this hysteria about tax collecting and
expenditure simplistic and trite. Why shouldn't Internet attract the
same social levy as other activities? If there is a wider question about
tax, rehearse it elsewhere.
  
Folks, the discussion here is all very well, but surely time spent writing
up and submitting to the names panel is time better spent?

I have seen three substantive issues raised in this list I think should be
discussed and raised with the names panel as inputs:

1) that there should [or should not be] more domains under .AU

2) that policies in domains under .AU should be relaxed to FCFS [or not]

3) how should change be introduced? overnight? staged? what are the legal
   ramifications?

Vituperation about tax, M-IT, who can spell better, is not useful. Comments
about cost, competition, legal action in respect of policy change might
be useful, but might also be more relevant for another forum.

cheers
	-George
--
George Michaelson         |  DSTC Pty Ltd
Email: ggm§dstc.edu.au    |  University of Qld 4072
Phone: +61 7 3365 4310    |  Australia
  Fax: +61 7 3365 4311    |  http://www.dstc.edu.au