Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today, I stand here in parliament calling on the Minister for Communications to fix the telecommunication crisis in Bendigo and Central Victoria. I have written to the Minister several times, as well as his predecessor who is now the Prime Minister, calling on them to fix the telecommunications crisis in Bendigo and Central Victoria.

What is going on is just unacceptable. As example of how bad it has been become, you need go no further than what is happening with some of the fixed wireless towers. There are four towers that were built under the former Labor government—we are talking three prime ministers ago. These towers were built in 2013, yet today, here we are in February 2016, and these towers have not been switched on. All this government had to do was switch these towers on and then people in these areas, businesses and households, would have had access to the NBN. But yet, this government has failed and it is just a mess—a mess created by Malcolm Turnbull. Why have these towers not been switched on? There is an issue with the relay tower. The relay tower was to be built at Mt Carmel, that was scrapped because of planning issues, but the NBN Co. and this government have not found an alternative. It is a crisis that this government is responsible for and a crisis that this government must fix.

Just to give you an example about what people are saying locally—and when I raise this in social media, when I raise this in our local media, my office and local media are inundated with complaints and examples about what is going on when it comes to their internet speeds and the lack of NBN. Richard Ryan said on my Facebook page: 'It is terrible and one of the main problems in Bendigo. Our speeds vary from 0.3 to about six. Compare this to the office that I work in occasionally in Melbourne that gets consistent speeds of 58. Another comparison with a friend in Frankston, who was lucky enough to get NBN, gets 106. When you are running a small business, it is very frustrating.'

Another person said, 'We live in East Bendigo, three kilometres from the CBD. ADSL2 isn't available to us. My wife runs her own business from home as a graphic designer, which requires large files to be uploaded and downloaded. It is a daily struggle with frustration and no end in sight.'

Andie said: 'I'm on the CBD exchange. There are no ports available, so I haven't been able to get ADSL for seven years even though I live in Kennington. I'm very excited about the NBN but, alas, many years on and I am still waiting. My current internet bill is $99 per month.'

That is the crisis this government is creating because they have left Bendigo off the map. I call on the minister again not to just turn the towers on in Central Victoria but to fix the crisis.