Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I've been listening to residents in my electorate of Hasluck about their communication concerns relating to landline, mobile phone, internet and postal services. In October this year, I hosted two communication forums, one in Wattle Grove and the other in Gidgegannup. I invited the Minister for Communications, Senator the Hon. Mitch Fifield, to join our Hasluck community to discuss communications, especially in relation to the national rollout of NBN. I'd like to thank my constituents for their valuable feedback and engagement. I also invited the various telcos to participate, and I thank the representatives from Telstra, Optus, NBN and Australia Post for their attendance.

There are areas in Hasluck that are expanding rapidly, with new residential subdivisions opening up. Due to this rapid expansion, there are also new shopping centres and retail outlets opening up. An example is the suburb of Wattle Grove. One issue raised by residents at this forum was that, at the Wattle Grove Shopping Centre, there are no Australia Post facilities within The Grove Lotteries and News outlet. I thank local Wattle Grove resident Mrs Kathleen Vermeers for bringing this to my attention and the 316 other residents, as well as the 12 retail and business outlets in the shopping centre, who signed a petition requesting Australia Post facilities be available at The Grove Lotteries and News.

The second communication forum, held at the Gidgegannup Recreation Club at Percy Cullen Oval, was well attended by about 90 residents. Gidgegannup is located some 43 kilometres north-east of Perth. It is well understood that the topography of Gidgegannup and the surrounding hills area is problematic in identifying best-practice locations to establish telecommunications towers both for mobile coverage and the NBN rollout. It provided an opportunity for residents to express their frustrations at the challenges faced in relation to landline, mobile phone and internet services delivered into Gidgegannup. Some Gidgegannup residents previously had problems when their internet satellite provider decided to close down, leaving them in limbo without a service. They were not eligible for the NBN Sky Muster satellite service because they were categorised to receive internet services from NBN towers that are yet to be rolled out.

However, it is reassuring for constituents to know that telecommunication industry leaders are committed to improving the experience of consumers switching phone and internet services to the NBN. This adds to the measures already undertaken by the government to support consumers' understanding of this once-in-a-generation industry transition. I was also heartened to learn mid last month that NBN Co is at the desktop scoping stage for identifying locations for its NBN towers and will be looking at suitable candidates and properties in defined search areas within the next few weeks.

I can assure my constituents that I will continue to strongly advocate for improved communications within Hasluck. They are vitally important because they are in a hills area where there is high fire risk, and isolation can leave them stranded. I acknowledge all of my constituents.

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