Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Urban Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

I do thank the member for her question and acknowledge her interest in the delivery of communication services to her constituents, and, of course, constituents across rural and remote Australia. Clearly, the amount of traffic over payphones has reduced consistently over the years. At the same time, what we are seeing is a greater and greater increase in the amount of traffic occurring over mobile phones, and, thanks to the work of this government under the Mobile Black Spots Program, a very significant increase in the number of mobile phone base stations around the country, and, therefore, the number of people who are able to obtain mobile coverage.

The government continues to work on its policies, in relation to regional communications, and particularly the Mobile Black Spots Program. Through this and the universal service obligation, and the other policy directions of the government, we are continuing to ensure that the best possible communication services can be provided in regional Australia.

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