March 5, 2014
The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has called for the Federal Government to focus on improving mobile phone coverage in areas where life and property are at risk.
In welcoming the Federal Government’s new $100 million mobile phone coverage program, Mr Chester has spoken in Parliament and lodged a formal submission highlighting the coverage failures in Gippsland.
“Gippsland is one of the most fire prone regions in the world. The region is also exposed to heavy flooding and has some of the fastest rising rivers in the southern hemisphere which demands quick and effective communication with the community at all times,” Mr Chester said.
“Unfortunately, some of the parts of Gippsland which are most exposed to natural disasters have the worst mobile phone coverage.”
Mr Chester also raised road safety and efficient business communications as key reasons to make sure Gippsland receives a significant share of the funding pool.
He told Parliament that improved mobile phone coverage would benefit Gippsland’s tourism sector.
“Visitors to regional communities expect to have mobile coverage and the industry fears that it will have a competitive disadvantage in the future if Gippsland can’t offer a basic level of service,” he said.
“In the case of farmers, often working alone on their properties, this is an unacceptable health and safety risk. Some residents have opted for the more expensive satellite phone option but others rely on patchy mobile phone coverage.”
Mr Chester has been a vocal advocate for improving mobile phone coverage in Gippsland and has previously raised these issues in Federal Parliament and directly with both the previous and current Ministers for Communications.
The previous Labor Government abandoned the mobile phone blackspots program and failed to ensure that coverage improvements were supported with public funding.
“The telecommunications industry itself will not fund all of the necessary upgrades in areas where there is not going to be a commercial return on their investment,” Mr Chester said.
“The Coalition’s $100 million funding package is designed to allow the industry to co-invest and achieve maximum value for taxpayers’ money while improving the system in rural and regional communities.
“It won’t fix all of the coverage problems but I’m confident that we will see some improvements in the months ahead.”