Mobile Black Spot Program

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE (Chaffey—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (15:09): I rise today to speak about—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —an issue in my electorate that has been a bone of contention for a number of years. It gives me great pleasure—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe can leave for half an hour under 137A, thank you.

The honourable member for Badcoe having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —to rise and speak about the current Mobile Black Spot Program that this government has put funding into in association with the commonwealth's round 4 Black Spot Program. It really warms the cockles of my heart that I can announce that in Chaffey five towers will be put in place. Thanks to that partnership, and in conjunction with the telcos, we now see that Murtho, Murtho South, Wunkar (home to the Bulldogs), Bower and Mount Mary will all get mobile towers.

The blackspot at Murtho is an area I have advocated about for a number of years. Not only have I advocated for it but I have doorknocked that entire Murtho Road district. I undertook an economic study to justify why Murtho should have blackspot towers and why it should have mobile phone coverage—because it is a growing economic powerhouse and also a growing tourism destination.

More importantly, what we see at Murtho and Murtho South is economic activity, with large farms growing there and large numbers of itinerant workers arriving. Not only do we have people living and working out there but, when we have the itinerant workforce arriving, the population increases by somewhere between 1,300 and 2,000 people in the district. It is a prime irrigated horticultural area that lacks mobile coverage, and it is great to be able to talk about Murtho and also Wunkar.

Wunkar is a dryland farming district just out of Loxton, and it has long called out for digital connectivity. Under the previous government there were no problems with blackspots because they had three rounds to put in for, but not one out there. I will talk about Murtho a little bit because it had a number of issues around blackspots. Murtho is one of the 29 towers, and it is great to see that the South Australian government has put in $5.3 million, a co-contribution of $5½ million from the commonwealth, matched by those telcos.

Many of the people at Murtho have come to me pleading that their businesses are suffering. Both Tom and Sarah Freeman, owners of the Wilkadene Woolshed Brewery, have experienced significant loss of business because of the lack of connectivity. They are running a commercial business out there—not only a brewery but a destination, as they also are a large houseboat rental organisation, and that is a great experience.

They are also neighbours of the Chowilla Station, and that attracts over 25,000 visitors a year. If 25,000 visitors came to Adelaide and they had no mobile phone connectivity, it would just hit the fan and all hell would break loose. Out at Murtho, they have waited patiently and that patience is paying off. I visited many of those farms and businesses, particularly at Bunyip Reach, and I know the Stoeckel family will be opening up the champagne because they have lobbied me for an extensive period of time. Omega Orchards is another horticultural business.

Martin Howie at Nelwood has been leading the charge and done a great job gathering information, making sure that when I went to the federal government and the telcos that we had the information and the justification for why Murtho should be one of the areas looked after. We have Costa, through the Costa exchange, the Haslett family out at Woolenook Fruits and of course the Murray River Walk, one of the 10 great walks in Australia. Tony and Susie Sharley are now about to open up champagne as well, as they will not have to carry satellite phones and will be able to offer mobile coverage to their customers. I think it is a great outcome. There are other opportunities, particularly out at the Customs House, which will now be served by mobile phone coverage, so it is a great outcome.

Those in the electorate of Chaffey who have missed out, please continue to keep liaising with me because we still have round 5 and round 6 of the commonwealth government Mobile Black Spot Program. The state government still has money to put into blackspot towers. It is good news for regional South Australia and it is great news for Chaffey that this government is looking after regional South Australia and looking after Chaffey.