Fred, a stone fruit grower from Woorinen, has put up with weak, slow, unreliable and sometimes non-existent mobile coverage for years.
As a small business owner, Fred has had to spend enormous sums to attempt to resolve these issues. Sadly, much of this investment has resulted in little improvement.
Living between two major phone towers, he often has to leave his own property to be able to conduct a virtual meeting with overseas clients. At times he’s had to stand on a chair or climb on a roof to be able to get any signal.
He is not alone. If you live in Walpeup, you endure the same inconvenience.
It’s simply not good enough.
The pandemic has exacerbated these issues. Home-schooling students are enduring disrupted learning in their virtual classrooms because their internet drops out. Teachers struggle to conduct online classes because they can’t get reliable reception at home.
While the Coalition Government has invested $15 million to address connectivity in Mallee, many people remain disadvantaged, fundamentally because telco companies have not been held to account for their deficient service.
This week I supported new legislation that seeks to right these wrongs. This reform will hold telecommunications companies accountable for their poor coverage. Executives will personally be liable for poor customer service and failure to meet the needs of customers.
Rural residents often live a long distance from emergency services, and when an emergency occurs we simply cannot afford poor connectivity to prevent access to emergency services.
Under the proposed Bill, telco companies will also be financially liable for preventable deaths caused through their inaction. Under this legislation, negligence will no longer be tolerated.
We still have a long way to go to ensure every Australian has access to reliable connectivity wherever they are, but this government is working together to deliver vital measures to make sure that we get there.
