Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

This report of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy on digital television transmission and reception is quite extensive and comprehensive and it highlights the litany of failure with respect to digital television access in rural and regional parts of this country. I specifically will address my remarks to Tasmania. There is a litany of complaint for rural and regional parts of Tasmania and it has continued. For example, last year we were the only state in Australia that missed out One HD 24-hour sports TV channel. It has now been rolled out. Initially it was to be rolled out to the capital cities but not Hobart—not Tasmania. Then I started a campaign in June or July last year. We had a Facebook campaign, we had community support and Tasmanians, particularly in the south, said: ‘We want it. We deserve it. We are part of Australia. Hobart is the capital of the sovereign state of Tasmania and one of the capitals in this country of Australia.’ We said it is not fair. That campaign continued for some time because we felt we were being treated as second-class citizens and it was not good enough. We are just as keen on sport—AFL football and also rugby league, but mostly AFL football, I must say. Many of us down there support the Richmond Tigers. They have not had a great year—