Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Forshaw for that question. I am pleased to report that Mildura is absolutely on track to lead the nation to a digital switchover on 30 June this year. Digital television offers improved picture and sound quality and greater program choice with access to new digital channels such as Network Ten’s ONE, Nine’s GO!, 7Two, ABC2, ABC3 and SBS2. The switch to digital-only television will also bring significant social and economic benefits as it will free up scarce spectrum which can be used for a range of new communications services, such as high-speed wireless broadband.

This morning my department released the results of the latest digital tracker survey, which measures the take-up of digital television across Australia. The tracker shows that in the Mildura-Sunraysia region 79 per cent of households had already converted to digital TV by the end of 2009, which was an increase of nine percentage points over the year. I am delighted to report that since the last survey closed on 15 December there has been a massive six per cent increase in take-up in that region. The latest information shows that 85 per cent of households in the Mildura-Sunraysia district have converted to digital television. The Digital Switchover Taskforce is undertaking a range of local meetings and campaigns to ensure that everyone in Mildura is fully informed about how to make the switch and when that switch will occur. The government has also appointed a community liaison officer in Mildura so people have someone on the ground they can talk to about switching over. (Time expired)