Mobile Black Spot Program

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (14:34): My question is to the Minister for Science and Information Economy. Can the minister update the chamber on how the South Australian government is helping to fix high priority mobile blackspot locations across South Australia?

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) (14:34): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in matters affecting people in regional South Australia. I know since becoming a member he has spent a lot of time in regional South Australia.

The Liberal federal government announced sites to be funded under round 2 of the Mobile Black Spot Program and confirmed an absolute failure to many regional communities in South Australia. Prior to the last federal election, a number of Liberal members made commitments to their electorates that they simply failed to keep and, as the federal Liberal government backed out of their election commitments, so-called guaranteed funding mobile base stations to extend mobile voice and wireless broadband service throughout Australia haven't been fulfilled.

In particular, during the federal election campaign, the Liberal Party in South Australia promised to fund nine base stations in Liberal electorates but none of those have been funded in the last round of announcements. Communities in Bute, Robertstown, Ashbourne, Gosse, Kybybolite and Kalangadoo have all missed out on these mobile blackspots. There were very explicit promises made. The former member for Mayo, Jamie Briggs, said:

A new mobile base station in Gosse and Stokes Bay on Kangaroo Island will be a much needed boost to mobile coverage, providing benefits—

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Point of order: just responding back to your advice to the opposition last week, I thought the question was actually about what the state government was doing and the minister has done nothing but refer to the federal government, which is not within his responsibility.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, please get through your answer and get to the state government.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Absolutely, and thank you for your guidance, Mr President. I think it is exceptionally important context for the chamber to understand where we are now—exceptionally important. Other federal Liberal members that talked about this include the member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey, who was:

…particularly pleased as part of the Hume commitments. The Prime Minister has authorised me to guarantee that three of my nominated sites, Maree, Robertstown and Bute, will be guaranteed to proceed.

Finally—because I know the Hon. John Dawkins' sensibilities will be insulted if I don't wrap up this background very quickly—the member for Barker, Tony Pasin, said before the election:

This week, I have had the pleasure of announcing the fantastic news that a re-elected coalition government will improve mobile phone coverage Kalangadoo, Kybybolite and Wynarka. These new mobile base stations will bring a much-needed boost to mobile coverage, providing benefits to emergency service operators, businesses and residents.

Since these commitments, a federal election has come and gone. There has been no word about funding these so-called guaranteed sites. Round 2 of the federal government's program has come and gone. Not a single one of these so-called guaranteed sites was funded in round 2, after these commitments were made. What is even more concerning is the suggestion that in round 3, although it is claimed to be a competitive process, it may be allocated simply for purely political purposes.

We have had the Productivity Commission, the Australian National Audit Office, making a scathing assessment of how this program has worked in the past and there seems to be all sorts of confusion about how it is going to be funded in the future.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The federal government has said on their website that a competitive process to allocate round 3 funding is expected to commence in 2017. However, Tony Pasin told ABC radio in December last year that these sites that he has talked about will be funded and will not require a state contribution. That is what the member for Barker told ABC radio in early December last year: for the next round they will not be requiring a state government contribution. There is even more risk, it appears, after the federal budget that none of these will actually be funded at all.

We saw in the federal budget, hidden away, I think, in table 15 on Outlook Budget Paper 1, section 639, funds for federal government blackspot programs from 2016 moved over to 2017-18. It can only be assumed that everything is going to be delayed a further year, if it actually ever happens. As I said, none of these so-called guaranteed stations were funded in round 2, and what is even more bizarre is that the state government pledged $2 million of a co-contribution for mobile blackspots in round 2 and, Mr President, do you know what the federal government did? They returned a third of that money. They didn't want our money.

We offered $2 million, and they returned to us a whole third of that. Yet I have heard some whingeing federal Liberal Party members say that we are not contributing enough. It is a completely illogical thing to say, given that they would not even take the money we offered. They returned a third of it to us. So, there is no way you can maintain an argument that we did not contribute enough—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —if they did not take the whole amount of our money. So, what we have decided to do is use that money that the federal government has returned and fund them ourselves, fund some of the highest priority areas ourselves that the federal Liberal government refused to do. We spoke to the mobile network operators, put forward our priority list, based on advice from emergency services, from local government, and from RDAs about what were needed for safety and for economic development, and I am very, very pleased that I can announce that Optus, with state government contribution, will be funding some of the very highest priority mobile blackspots in South Australia. I was very pleased yesterday to be in Wasleys, with the local member, the fantastic local member—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: No he's not; not anymore he's not.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The fantastic current local member—until the boundaries change in the next election. They do not change until the next election; I think the Hon. John Dawkins has been here long enough to know that, but I am happy to educate him in the electoral process if he wishes. In the current electorate of Light, Wasleys was funded, and Tony Piccolo has been a huge advocate for that area and the need for funding, a massive advocate for that area. So, I am pleased that we are funding this area that we know has some significant safety concerns. It is very pleasing that that is now being funded, when the federal Liberal government ignored it, and the state government is now stepping in.

Areas like Sevenhill, in the Clare Valley region, are being funded through the state government. The federal Liberal government declined to fund that high priority area. Other areas around the state, like Blanchetown in the Riverland and Yahl, south of Mount Gambier, are being funded. It is interesting to note that of 765 mobile base stations that have been funded over two rounds, there is not a single one in the Limestone Coast of South Australia. It is bizarre. There is the state's second biggest city, and after going five minutes in almost any direction you lose mobile coverage. But the local member, Tony Pasin, and the federal Liberal government have refused to fund a single one in the Limestone Coast previously.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Not a single one, and I have had dozens of communications with people around Mount Gambier, who share my anger that the federal Liberal government has refused to fund a single mobile base station in the Limestone Coast region. So, I am pleased that, with state funding, we will be funding a mobile base station at Yahl. All of these new mobile base stations will have about a 10-kilometre radius. There will be some thousands of people who have had patchy or no coverage who will now have mobile coverage, and the area around Yahl is exceptionally important. It includes areas such as The Barn, that just a week and a half ago hosted 6,000 people at the Generations in Jazz concert—4,627 students from 125 schools around this state attended the concert.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Point of order, Mr President: the Leader of the Government will be disappointed if I do not do this—but, given that the Leader of the Government has been on his feet with this answer for over eight minutes, I ask you to bring him to a conclusion.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, please get to the conclusion of your answer.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Again, thank you for your guidance on this, Mr President. I will be wrapping this up now. I can understand the Hon. John Dawkins wanting to shut me down. He is showing obvious signs of discomfort and embarrassment over his federal colleagues not funding Wasleys, in particular. He is squirming in his seat over this.

As I was saying, around Yahl we are working with Optus to make sure that The Barn is covered, where we saw thousands of people attend last weekend. It has been an embarrassment that that area has not been covered, and people have been complaining. So, we are now, through the state, funding coverage of the first one of these mobile blackspots in the Limestone Coast, after the abject failure of the federal Liberal Party to fund it.

We do not know why they have not funded a single one out of the 765 in the Limestone Coast. It could be that it is a safe seat and they just do not care about people in that seat. It could be the lack of influence that Barker has in the federal parliament. Members from that seat have a proud tradition of being frontbenchers, but the current member seems like a lifetime backbencher. So, it's either that they ignore us or the member doesn't carry the influence, but we will step in where the federal Liberal government has failed and fund some of these important mobile phone towers.