February 14, 2013
Agriculture Minister John McVeigh today called on the Federal Government to upgrade mobile phone coverage urgently across the flood-hit North Burnett region.
In the wake of the devastating floods, Mr McVeigh said the lack of mobile coverage was unacceptable, particularly during times of natural disasters when reliable mobile phone services were essential to saving lives and property.
“Extensive travel across the region during the past fortnight inspecting flood-damaged properties proved to me just how bad the mobile coverage is in many areas,” Mr McVeigh said.
“Many places in the North Burnett suffer from poor mobile coverage while places like Coalstoun Lakes have no coverage at all. It’s unacceptable.”
Mr McVeigh said the Australia Day floods brought damage on an unprecedented scale to the North Burnett, and with recovery underway, all levels of government needed to build resilience, including upgrading telecommunications, especially mobile phone coverage.
“With the Gillard government spending more than $35 billion rolling-out broadband in select towns and regions, surely some of those funds could be diverted into building a few phone towers in the North Burnett,” he said.
Mr McVeigh said he had written to the Federal Telecommunications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy requesting the Minister redress the situation.
“With so many black spots, this is a real issue of community safety as well as everyday communications,” he said.
