Apparently the Labor Party has criticised the government for not taking 
control of .au policy <http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1381112.htm>:

    The Labor Party says federal government plans to allow the sell-off
    of the names of every country town, district and regional centre in
    Australia as Internet domain names could see towns' names used for
    inappropriate websites.

    From tomorrow, Australian businesses will be able to apply to
    register commercial geographic names, like stkilda.com.au or
    bondi.net.au, which have previously been restricted.

    Shadow Agriculture Minister Gavan O'Connor says allowing the
    sell-off will cause enormous problems.

    "Every country town and rural district or regional centre that
    prides itself in its name, and identifies with its name, could have
    it flogged off to a business that's prepared to pay a high price for
    access to that domain name," he said.

    "We were instructed to go to the Las Vegas website and, of course,
    what came up on the screen was a brothel."

    But Prime Minister John Howard says the Federal Government is not
    responsible for the sale of Internet domain names for Australian
    towns and districts.

    Mr Howard has told Parliament a working group with members from
    state and territory governments, the Local Government Association
    and Internet representatives have developed the policy.

    Mr Howard says the first stage will give appropriate businesses the
    chance to lease the name for two years.

    "Importantly, the proceeds flowing from this will allow the second
    stage of this process, which will be reserved for community groups,
    that's sporting clubs, charities, local churches etc to allow them
    to establish an online presence for their towns and localities," he
    said.

    [snip]

kim