Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to talk about the Mobile Black Spot Program. It was a most important issue in my electorate—a regional electorate in Tasmania. I was very pleased prior to the election, when, Malcolm Turnbull, while in opposition, announced $100 million for the opportunity for communities in regional Australia to be able to plug those black holes. I thank the Minister for Communications, I thank the great work of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications, and I particularly thank my office staff. They did an extraordinary job, with local government contributions, in identifying over 155 black spots within the electorate of Lyons. Extraordinarily, after that good work, we were able to achieve $5.2 million being spent in my electorate, out of that $100 million. Thanks to contributions by the state government, local councils and, of course, the commercial carriers—in this case Vodafone and Telstra—the total investment in my electorate is over $12.6 million. Vital infrastructure and, indeed, most welcome: 19 base stations and 50 unique locations effectively addressing 65 of these 155 identified black spots.

East of Oatlands, the communities of Stonor, Whitefoord, Baden, Tunnack, Mount Seymour, Mole Creek and Chudleigh; those as Rossarden, Pyengana, Goulds Country and Goshen; much of the east coast and the south-east coast along the Tasman Highway; Bothwell and the Central Highlands will all benefit from the 19 new towers. It is a well-run program, a well-designed program and a fantastic reward for my community.

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