Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to pay tribute to the Rotary Adventure in Citizenship program and commend the young men and women here in the parliament today. It is wonderful to have you here. Welcome. I hope you have a wonderful week. There is lots to learn. It is wonderful to see so many young men and women learning about our wonderful democratic system.

I present a petition that was found to be in order by the Petitions Committee.

The petition read as follows—

To the Honourable The Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives

This petition of the citizens and friends of the community of Shelford Victoria, draws to the attention of the House, that Shelford Victoria is in a black spot as far as telecommunications (Mobile Phone & Internet) are concerned. This was again highlighted during the heat wave and elevated fire danger period experienced in the 2013 - 14 summer. Many residents experienced poor and unreliable telecommunications, and had no up to date information.

We, the undersigned, ask the House to urge the telecommunications industry to urgently investigate, plan and deliver a telecommunications system that is improved and far more reliable for the residents of Shelford and the greater local community

from 238 citizens

Petition received.

I wish to commend the principal petitioner, Stephen Gilligan, for his efforts. I congratulate everyone in Shelford for uniting together to ensure their voice is heard in the nation's parliament.

Shelford is one of many small communities throughout my electorate of Corangamite that are being impacted by mobile phone black spots and has serious issues with internet connections. Along with Shelford, other places like Dereel, Birregurra, Gellibrand and Deans Marsh and larger towns such as Ocean Grove and Torquay are suffering some significant issues with internet connections and getting access to fast broadband.

I am extremely proud of the coalition government's commitment—a $100 million program to fix mobile phone black spots. As I have said to these communities—and we have had a number of very important community meetings throughout the western part of my electorate and also on internet connections in places like Deans Marsh and Grovedale—I am absolutely determined to stand up for those communities and to fight for better communications. It is simply shameful that over six years Labor did not invest one cent in fixing mobile phone black spots. This policy shows how much we care about country people. As I say, I am very proud of it.

We also have a very important policy in relation to the rollout of the NBN. Let us face it, under Labor the rollout of the NBN was a disaster. I am very proud to continue to stand up for these communities.