New mobile telecommunication infrastructure investment in the federal electorate of Nicholls continues to hit a wall.
The issue was a hot topic in the lead-up to last year’s federal election, with independent candidate Rob Priestly releasing 150 pigeons at Wunghnu to highlight the underinvestment in telecommunications black spots across Nicholls.
At the time, Mr Priestly said Nicholls had received the fewest new towers in regional Victoria, while the neighbouring seat of Indi, held by independent Helen Haines, had been the “most successful seat in Victoria” at attracting funding for new mobile towers.
Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell, who retained the safe Coalition-held seat at the May 2022 election, was in Avenel on Thursday, April 27, with Federal Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman and they also expressed concerns about the allocation of funds from the most recent round of the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program.
Mr Coleman said draft guidelines for the program showed every dollar of round six of the program in Victoria and NSW was set to be spent in Labor electorates.
“The locations were recently hand-picked by the Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland ... we’ve seen only three projects selected in Victoria, plus 27 in NSW, all going to ALP-held electorates,” Mr Coleman said.
Mr Birrell said he would continue to fight for telecommunications funding for Nicholls.
“Regional communities deserve fast, reliable and affordable telecommunications and where black spots exist, they should be fixed,” he said.
Towns in Nicholls that have had base towers funded through previous rounds include Toolleen, Gunbower, Katunga and Graytown.
Politicians have expressed concerns about how and where the program’s funds are allocated since it started.
In 2015, when she was the Shadow Assistant Communications Minister, Ms Rowland wrote to the Auditor-General expressing concerns about transparency and how funding was allocated in round one of the program.
“More than 80 per cent of the locations for new mobile phone towers announced are in Liberal or National electorates with less than seven per cent in Labor electorates,” she wrote at the time.
Mr Coleman wrote to the Auditor-General earlier this year requesting an audit of the round six process.
The Auditor-General said there was some “merit” in including an audit of the program as a potential topic in his office’s 2023-24 work plan.
New funding rounds open
A Federal Government spokesperson said as part of its $2.2 billion investment in regional telecommunications, the government had committed $656 million through the Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia for a range of programs.
The spokesperson said applications were open for round three of the Regional Connectivity Program and round seven of the Mobile Black Spot Program following a public consultation process.
The programs are open for applications for proposed solutions across regional, rural and remote Australia until July 12.
“Communities are encouraged to engage with their local councils and the mobile network operators and infrastructure providers to explore opportunities to improve mobile coverage and connectivity issues in their areas through these initiatives,” the spokesperson said.
More information is available at www.infrastructure.gov.au/bcp