Senate debates

Wednesday, 4 May 2016

Questions without Notice

Telecommunications

2:42 pm

Photo of Ricky MuirRicky Muir (Victoria, Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications, Senator Fifield. In April 2016 a bus driver was walking with a school group in the historic rural town of Walhalla, in my state of Victoria, when he collapsed from a suspected heart attack and fell seven metres down an embankment. With non-existent mobile communications access within the proximity of the township of Walhalla, there are ongoing communications issues which then create issues with connecting to the appropriate emergency services in the face of an incident.

In this incident, there were an unnecessarily large number of emergency services personnel deployed from all over Victoria, as far as two hours away, which, due to miscommunication, included a number of teams that were not required. Due to the delay in the response, this incident unfortunately ended with a fatality. Can the minister inform the Senate if there is any scope for funding beyond the $60 million announced for the second round of the Mobile Black Spots Program, despite the disappointment of further funding not being addressed in the 2016-2017 federal budget?

Comments

No comments