Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk on the last mobile black spot round that the Albanese government oversaw. That round saw no funding for extra mobile phone towers go to any coalition seat in Victoria—not to Wannon, not to Mallee, not to Gippsland, not one. All those electorates in regional and rural Victoria have seen the devastating impacts of bushfires over time. Yet this round, which was meant to focus on supporting those areas impacted by bushfires in Victoria, saw not one tower go to any coalition electorate.

When the relevant minister was asked about this on radio and how it came about, she said that she had hand-picked every single location. She didn't go to the department. She didn't seek external advice. They were hand-picked by the relevant minister. I would like to point out that in the electorate of Wannon we have communities such as Aireys Inlet, Anglesea, Lorne and Lakaput that are still facing the high risk of fire—yet there's no funding for them. Towns including Bessiebelle, Cudgee, Framlingham, Grassmere, Hawkesdale, Nullawarre, Willatook, and Woorndoo also need mobile phone towers—yet not one mobile phone tower was given to a coalition seat in Victoria.

I was doing my regular Thursday morning radio slot in Colac last Thursday when I mentioned this. The radio host, Lippy, who has a bit of a sense of humour, said to me, 'But how could this be? Surely the Labor Party and Labor Party members must understand that there are areas in the electorate of Wannon that need mobile phone towers? As a matter of fact, I've got a really good idea.' I said, 'I'm all ears.' He said, 'Maybe what you could do is give all members of the Labor Party a mobile phone, take them to the Otways and we could play a game: "I'm a Labor Party member—get me out of here". Then they would realise that the Otways have absolutely no mobile phone coverage.'

I said to him, 'I'd be happy to raise that in the House on your behalf,' because we have to be doing everything we can to make sure that subsequent rounds of mobile black spot funding are fair and that all electorates across Australia get their fair share of funding, especially those electorates in regional and rural Australia and especially in the electorate of Wannon.

We have a very good track record of attracting mobile black spot funding, but we need to do more. I'm hoping that the next round will not be hand-picked by the minister. And I say to the Prime Minister—I say to all members of the Labor Party—you're more than welcome to visit Wannon with your mobile phones. We're more than happy to take you to the Otways. It's beautiful!

Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is that where the panther is—the Otways?

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is. It's a beautiful spot, the Otways, and we can play 'I'm a Labor Party MP—get me out of here'. Even though you'll probably have a lot of trouble, I think that you'll definitely enjoy the wonderful destination which is the Otways.

I would like to end on a very serious note, and that is that I really do hope that the next round of mobile blackspot funding is allocated on a fair basis to those communities in need and that, especially if it's done with the key priority of helping those communities who face a severe bushfire threat, we do not see locations handpicked on a political basis.