Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Having a consistent reliable mobile telephone service is an ongoing issue for regional and rural communities in this country, particularly in electorates like Canning. I'm therefore pleased to report that, earlier this year, three new mobile base stations in our region were announced by the Morrison government under the black spot program. These towers will improve connectivity on the Brookton Highway in the Perth Hills; on the Pinjarra-Williams Road in Wuraming; and in Lane-Poole Reserve. This will help our emergency services during bushfires and road accidents.

However, we still have difficulties with mobile reception in fast-growing suburban developments. This is true for communities like Whitby in Serpentine-Jarrahdale. Mobile network infrastructure has not kept up with population growth in Whitby. We have suburbs less than an hour from the Perth CBD that continue to experience poor mobile service, and it's not good enough, especially during summer, where we have the risk of bushfire. Quality mobile phone reception is essential to modern daily life. So I'm working with my counterparts in local and state government on a solution for my community. I'd like to acknowledge the work and advocacy of the member for Darling Range, Alyssa Hayden. She's working hard to understand the issues. Last month I met with representatives from Telstra to discuss the situation in Whitby. We are looking to construct a new tower north of Mundijong to service the area. In the coming weeks, I'll be engaging further to demonstrate the need in this community. I will continue to advocate for Serpentine-Jarrahdale and other communities like it.