Domain registration is a low tech, high admin industry. $5 per name won't r
 eally pay for anything.
  

Nice try. the $5 is for *GOVERNANCE* costs at .au Larry. Its not to "pay"
for anything else. And if you do the sums, its within the ballpark for
infrastructure costs at that level. Its not wrong by an order of magnitude
or anything.

  What I would like there to be a recognition of is that the real issue is 
 .com.au and how we reduce cost and increase competition in this area. The
 other 2LD's are clearly important, but not nearly as relevant.

AN issue yes. THE issue, no. This is not a single-issue debate. It never has
been. Witness the never-ending flood of people promoting generics like pizza.au
in the namespace. Also complaints about QoS are not about "cost" or about
"competition"
  
And governance of the "other" 2LDs is just as important for the wider
community, many of whom care deeply about names being relevant and available
in those spaces.

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