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

The government funded satellite service finally provides viewers in remote Australia and regional black spots with the same number of digital channels as are available in the capital cities. It also features a dedicated local news service. This is the first time local news has been available to satellite viewers in regional and remote Australia. The new satellite service is on air in the Mildura-Sunraysia region now and is being warmly received. Patchewollock resident Terry Torney told the Sunraysia Daily this month that the service was great value for remote viewers. As he said:

It’s a one-off payment for the box and card if you’ve already got the dish. Everyone’s prepared to do that because we put up with very substandard TV here for a long time.

The Labor government is proud to have fixed this problem once and for all for people in regional, rural and remote Australia. (Time expired)