Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The next major milestone for the program will be the conclusion of the competitive selection process for round 2. That is scheduled to occur on 14 June 2016. Following the conclusion of that process my department will assess the proposals against the eligibility criteria. The department will use the assessment process to prepare a draft merit list of base stations, which will then be provided to Minister Nash, who has primary carriage in this area, who is doing a sensational job.

The locations to be funded under round 2 are expected to be announced in the second half of 2016. Meanwhile the rollout of the 499 base stations I referred to earlier under round 1 of the program will continue. To date 21 sites have already been activated across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. That is 21 more sites than were activated under the previous government. We have a program; they did not have one. We are delivering; they did not. They never will. (Time expired)