How Australia's A$49bn internet network came to be ridiculed
In 1872, rugged, frontier Australia was lauded for overcoming the tyranny of distance to connect itself to the world via the "bush telegraph", a two-year project stringing 3,200km (2,000 miles) of wire through the outback that became part of the nation's folklore.
By contrast today, while striving to be seen as an "innovation nation", Australia stands condemned, even ridiculed, for its latest drive for connectivity: a modern, fast internet network.