Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No suburb in Australia does more online shopping than Point Cook in my electorate in Melbourne's west. It's true but it's ironic, because residents in Point Cook have long had to put up with inadequate mobile phone coverage.

Late last year I surveyed residents about their experiences with poor mobile coverage and connectivity. They told me stories about how poor connectivity impacted them every day: stories of disrupted online education; of remote work proving difficult, if not impossible; of being unable to reach family and friends because their connection was too poor; and, most concerningly of all, of how lack of reception saw some Point Cook residents concerned that they would be unable to contact emergency services when they needed to. The message was clear: telecommunications providers needed to lift their game in the area.

I used the results of this survey to make the case directly to the CEOs of Telstra and Optus. I told them about my constituents' experiences and my expectation that they lift their game. My staff have met with representatives of the companies to go through these issues in detail. In response I've been told that Telstra is now building two new mobile phone towers in Point Cook. Site acquisition for these towers has escalated since my community consultation. These new phone towers will provide improved 4G and 5G connectivity for Point Cook residents. Optus have advised that they plan to establish four new connectivity sites and to upgrade two existing sites over the next one to five years. These developments will mean that Telstra customers in Point Cook should start to see their connection improve, potentially as soon as in the next six months. The time line is less clear for Optus customers, but I'll continue working productively with them to speed up their telecommunications infrastructure. This is progress, but I'm continuing to push these providers to move more quickly and to deliver these much-needed infrastructure improvements as soon as possible.

The Albanese Labor government is working to keep Australians connected across Melbourne's peri-urban fringe. We're rolling out the Peri-Urban Mobile Program—or PUMP—to improve connectivity in bushfire priority areas and across greater Melbourne in conjunction with the Victorian government. I've implored mobile phone carriers to take advantage of this program if it will help them to improve their mobile coverage for residents in fast-growing peri-urban areas of Melbourne, like Point Cook in my electorate. This complements the Mobile Black Spot Program, which aims to improve mobile coverage across regional and remote Australia.

The Albanese government believes that your mobile connection should not be determined by your postcode. Before the last election we made it clear that under our government no Australian would be held back and no Australian would be left behind. I'll keep pushing to ensure that all Point Cook residents have better mobile connectivity so that they can get on with living their lives, running their businesses, getting their study done and communicating with their friends and families.