Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In summing up—when the signal drops, productivity stops. Farmers are being forced to fund expensive workarounds like Starlink because the service they are paying for is failing them. This is unacceptable in this day and age. Places like Tarcowie, Balaklava, Cummins, Wudinna and Weetulta cannot wait any longer.

Since I last spoke on this bill, the latest round of the Mobile Black Spot Program was released. The electorate of Grey, covering 92.3 per cent of South Australia, an area bigger than New South Wales, has been allocated one new tower. Under the previous coalition government, 56 towers were installed. Fifty-six versus one is unacceptable. Imagine if these kinds of mobile black spots were in Canberra. There would be a royal commission, not silence and inaction. What would happen if those opposite couldn't make a call to triple zero if their house was on fire? There would be an outrage. It would be front-page news. But, because it is out of sight in the bush, for this Labor government it is therefore out of mind.

We have the Better Connectivity Plan and we have the funding. What we lack is the urgency to get transmitters on towers and signals into these areas. I call on the minister and Telstra to stop hiding behind terrain maps and technical excuses and finally switch on phone connection in the bush. I am committed to the people of Grey. My job is to ensure that, whether you are in Wallaroo, Port Pirie or Ceduna, you are not treated like a second-class citizen by a government that only cares about the inner-city suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne.

This bill provides the tools to punish bad providers, and that is a good thing. But there is much more that needs to be done in this area, especially in regional and rural South Australia. We need to stop the scams that target our isolated and elderly residents—scams that cost Australians over $100 million last year. We need the emergency call database to be accurate so ambulances show up to the right house or the right farm at the right time. But a fine of $10 million doesn't help a farmer who can't call an ambulance. A registration process doesn't help an elderly woman whose fall-detector battery is dying because it is constantly searching for a signal that no longer exists.

The coalition supports the bill, but we condemn the neglect. We need a government that understands that regional Australia is the engine room of our nation. Our farmers, our miners and our regional small businesses deserve better than a 'sorry; no service' message from the Albanese government. Regional SA is calling out for help. The question is: will the government answer?

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