Christian Lobby buoyant on filtering after meeting Conroy

Australian Christian Lobby managing director Jim Wallace met with communications minister Senator Conroy yesterday to get a status update on ISP-level filtering.

At the Christian Lobby's national conference at the weekend, Wallace said he would meet with Senator Conroy on Thursday.

"I'll be seeing the communications minister next Thursday about this to find out how [the filtering trial] has gone," Wallace said at the conference.

Wallace also said that the Christian Lobby had "found out" enough on the ISP-level filtering trial to believe it supported their position: that ISP-level filtering worked.

Today Wallace was asked how the lobby would know this information, considering the report was yet to be tabled for public consumption.

Wallace told iTnews he had not received any information on the trial results "except what is available in the open press".

He said he had drawn his conclusions from newspaper reports stating ISP-level filtering worked.

"I'm drawing my confidence from what's available in the open press and what we have always believed to be the case and I think is proving to be the case," Wallace said.

He claimed he did not gain access to findings in the report into the filtering trial during the meeting with Conroy.

"I think the minister's anticipation was that report would've been issued [in time for the meeting]," he said. "Us having been a lobby on this, and I assume stakeholders, he would've spoken to us about it."

Wallace said his understanding was that the report was not yet complete and that the government's position "hadn't been finalised yet".

He said that he anticipated that when the report was released the minister "might have another meeting" with him or have one of his staff advise the Christian Lobby about the matter.