The Australian government's plan to build an antipodean equivalent of the Great Firewall of China will cost $90,000 per blocked website.

Tests for the “Great Rabbit Proof Fence” are being carried out by ISPs but according to documents released under the Australian Official information act show that the government has not developed any criteria to determine whether trials of the scheme are a success.

Nine ISPs are trialling the web censorship plan, which will block all content that has been "refused classification" by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. The government has has admitted that "there are not success criteria as such" and the opposition thinks that it sounds as though the government will filter as many sites as the technology allows.

Without benchmarks the Government can claim it was a success regardless of the cost or performance issues.

With the exception of right wing born again Christians who want the entire Internet censored, the Rudd government is finding very little support for the Great Rabbit Proof fence. Harping on about protecting children has not made up for the suspicion that the government will use the technology to filter opposition.

Australians might be conservative but they are not ready for a society that authoritarian.