Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every three years, the government undertakes a regional telecommunications infrastructure review to examine the state of phone and internet connectivity in regional Australia. It looks at what's working well, where the gaps are and what needs to be done better. Poor phone and internet connections are one of the top issues I hear about from my constituents. That's why, in May this year, I helped bring together representatives of the nine local governments in Indi and the government's Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee. A public consultation at the Benalla Town Hall was also very well attended, with the unambiguous takeaway that the federal government needs to do better, because what I hear time and time again is that telecommunications aren't up to scratch in regional, rural and remote Australia. More than ever we work online, we study online, we access health services online and we keep in touch with our friends and family online, but we can't do any of these things if we can't connect. If we can't connect then we fall behind.

As the regional Independent MP, I made a broad-ranging submission to the review, recording the experiences of people in Indi and making nine recommendations that would help close the digital divide between the cities and the regions. In order for the government to deliver on its commitment to better regional connectivity, it must accept and implement these simple but impactful solutions.

Floods, fires or storms—extreme weather events—are a common occurrence across north-east Victoria, and too often our telecommunications networks are failing when extreme weather or emergency knocks out our power supplies. This is putting lives at risk. In the south of my electorate, Murrindindi Shire has highlighted the effects recent flood related power and telecommunication outages have had on local hospitals, emergency services and businesses. Further north, the people of Kariong still remember the weeks of isolation following the Black Summer bushfires. Outages like these threaten lives and undermine emergency services coordination, and the broader economic costs are significant.

We must increase resilience now before the next fire or flood arrives, not after. We need to increase funding for programs that fund community energy nodes and power backup for mobile phone towers in extreme weather events. The town of Jamieson recently installed a community energy node at the memorial hall, with the support of Commonwealth grants, to provide residents with shelter and communication for several days in times of emergencies. In my submission, I recommend that the government expand programs that will fund similar projects right across regional Australia. Jamieson is a fine case study.

Affordability is another major issue. I do not accept that a regional internet tax is the price that we must pay for living outside the major cities. The regional internet tax comes in many forms. It's families paying for expensive satellite internet because the NBN won't ever make it to them. It's businesses that miss out on sales because EFTPOS machines drop out of connection. It's farmers forced to buy expensive signal boosters just so they can run the farm using modern technology. This unfair burden falls onto regional Australians just because of where they live. It's not right, and I'm disappointed that affordability is not a focus of this government's review.

It's also why I've recommended an expansion of the successful On Farm Connectivity Program, which supports primary producers to invest in new and necessary on-farm technology. Working with my Indi Telecommunications Advisory Group, I've long fought for more funding to fix the black spots that exist right across north-east Victoria, and I'm proud to say that, under Independent representation, Indi has received more funding under the Mobile Black Spot Program than any other Victorian electorate.

But I want that for everyone in regional Australia. We're making progress, but there's always more to do. Unbelievably, this program has no funding guaranteed beyond 2027. I'm recommending that the government make the sensible decision to provide ongoing, guaranteed funding for the successful Mobile Black Spot Program. The program relies on effective cooperation between government, telcos and local communities. Secure long-term funding would mean we could fix more blackspots sooner.

With the final report due before the end of this year, I'll be watching closely to see what this government's plan is for closing the digital divide and ending the regional internet tax, because regional communities have had enough of second-rate services. It stops local communities and businesses from achieving their full potential, it threatens our safety and it is a handbrake on regional development.