Mobile Black Spot Program

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:28): I have a question for the Minister for Science and Information Economy. The minister responded earlier about the $2 million that the state government contributed to mobile blackspots. Has the minister raised concerns with the federal Auditor-General about the federal Liberal government's Mobile Black Spot Program?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:28): I thank the honourable member for his question. Yes, the state government has. As we have already very briefly discussed in this chamber today, the federal Liberal government announced last week sites to be funded under round 2 of the Mobile Black Spot Program for South Australia, and as a result, confirmed their failure to many regional communities in this state.

The federal Liberal government announced that 20 sites will be funded through this program. It was particularly disappointing that of the $2 million that the state government was prepared to contribute, the federal Liberal government only accepted $1.3 million of this support. The Hon. David Ridgway asked about this under, I think, the mistaken belief that all $2 million was used; no, only two-thirds of it was used. It appears maybe someone set David Ridgway up to make him look particularly stupid, but I think he does a fine job of doing that himself. The state government has written—

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Point of order, sir: I think we have had exception taken to language in the past. We had 'numbskull' last week and now the leader has been referred to as 'particularly stupid'. I would ask you to ask the minister to withdraw that.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, in particular, none of this language will be tolerated. As Leader of the Government, you should be very wary of what you say. Withdraw the—

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Thank you, Mr President, I—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I apologise and withdraw for that particular piece of language, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: Good.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The state government has written to the commonwealth Auditor-General requesting a full investigation into this program, as the lack of transparency in deciding sites is of very significant concern not just to the South Australian government but other state governments around Australia. There is absolutely no clarity or transparency as to how these sites were allocated, and we are not aware of any specific criteria that were used for determining successful sites.

What's particularly disturbing is that it would appear that a number of these sites were used for purely political purposes with federal taxpayers' money. We have asked for an inquiry into this program because, as the National Audit Office said when they inquired into round 1 of this program, the process is not transparent and it has proven to provide little benefit to some areas of regional Australia—this is from the National Audit Office under round 1 of the program.

What is particularly disappointing is the federal government's announcement that they wouldn't fund some sites that were of exceptionally high priority not just to South Australia but also to Victoria. A number of these sites were in areas that are bushfire prone areas. The Wasleys base station was a very high priority for South Australia but did not receive funding under this program. Similarly, in Victoria, there were a number of areas that were of exceptionally high priority but did not receive funding.

What strikes a chord is that not one of these sites was in a federal Labor electorate. None of the sites were in the Clare Valley or the Mid North region that is in federal Wakefield despite assurances that those areas of Wakefield specifically were eligible for this program—not a single site in a Labor-held area—and this is repeated in areas in Victoria.

Another aspect of this is the blatant broken promises by many members in the federal Liberal Party. During the election campaign earlier this year, federal Liberal members promised to fund nine base stations in their electorates but, in last week's announcement, only three were announced to be going ahead. Communities such as Bute, Robertstown, Ashbourne in the Adelaide Hills, Gosse on Kangaroo Island, Kybybolite and Kalangadoo have all missed out in this announcement last week by the federal government. There are quotes from members before the last election. The former member for Mayo Jamie Briggs said:

A new mobile base station in Gosse and Stokes Bay, Kangaroo Island will bring a much-needed boost to mobile coverage…

The member for Grey said:

I am particularly pleased as part of this new commitment the Prime Minister has authorised me to guarantee that three of my nominated preference sites, Marree, Robertstown and Bute/Alford will be guaranteed to proceed.

Unusually, he used the word 'guarantee' twice in that sentence, and what do we find? Marree gets funded, and the other two that were guaranteed twice—not once but twice in the one sentence—are not going ahead. Similarly, guaranteed sites at Kybybolite and Kalangadoo in the seat of Barker were not funded.

The fact that all of the 20 sites being supported, as I said, are in Liberal or formerly-held Liberal electorates smacks of pork-barrelling, and I am absolutely certain that the National Audit Office will have a very good look at this. It is all over the place. The Hon. David Ridgway asked about round 3. No-one knows what's happening with round 3. On the federal government's website, it says, 'A competitive process to allocate round 3 funding is expected to commence in 2017.'

Tony Pasin, the member for Barker, said that the number of sites in round 3 were absolutely guaranteed; they are on the list. He said, 'Round 3 is resolved.' Tony Pasin, the federal member for Barker, has already said round 3 is resolved, yet their own website claimed a competitive tender process. It makes absolutely no sense. Those two things just can't be true.

Tony Pasin, in particular, has completely and utterly failed his electorate—not once—under either round: 11 in the first and 20 in the second, not one single mobile phone tower in the Limestone Coast, not a single one. Tony Pasin has shown himself to be an abject failure once again. He is one of only two members for this exceptionally safe seat never to have made the front bench. I think the way he is treated and the amount of pull he gets in his federal party and the federal parliament reflects this.