❓ State government seeks federal funding for mobile coverage in northern WA, mirroring a successful southern project. The federal government has declined, leading to disappointment and a call for bipartisan support to reverse the decision.
AnsweredQoN 46Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer the minister to the Gallop government’s efforts to work with the federal government to improve mobile telephone coverage in the north of the state. Can the minister advise the house whether the federal government has responded to its offer to help fund improved services? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Kimberley for the question. It was disappointing today to hear that the federal Minister for Communications, Hon Helen Coonan, appears to have basically ruled out joining with the state government as a partner to provide mobile phone coverage along the main highway north of Geraldton to Port Hedland and into Broome. My predecessor in this role approached the commonwealth government late last year. In fact, almost four months ago to the day, he wrote to the federal minister and basically suggested a replication of the partnership that had produced the Wireless West project, which completed 45 new CDMA mobile phone towers in the south west of the state, from Geraldton to Kalgoorlie and down to Esperance. The commonwealth, the state and Telstra each provided $7 million for that project. The minister had been in discussions with Telstra about replicating or providing a service into the north, for a total of $12 million, of which Telstra would provide approximately 50 per cent, the state $3.05 million and the commonwealth the same amount. It is very disappointing that Minister Coonan has today said no in Broome, which town would obviously have been one of the recipients of the benefit. What I would like to see from the other side of the house - Mr M.W. Trenorden : That program should be totally supported. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Avon. I was just going to offer an invitation, because I thought that is where we might end up, for the National Party and also the Liberal Party to join with us in an endeavour to get Senator Coonan and the federal government to change their position on this. It will be of benefit to the outlying areas of the state. I am glad the National Party has automatically offered its support and I would ask for the same level of support from the Liberal Party. Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Kimberley for the question. It was disappointing today to hear that the federal Minister for Communications, Hon Helen Coonan, appears to have basically ruled out joining with the state government as a partner to provide mobile phone coverage along the main highway north of Geraldton to Port Hedland and into Broome. My predecessor in this role approached the commonwealth government late last year. In fact, almost four months ago to the day, he wrote to the federal minister and basically suggested a replication of the partnership that had produced the Wireless West project, which completed 45 new CDMA mobile phone towers in the south west of the state, from Geraldton to Kalgoorlie and down to Esperance. The commonwealth, the state and Telstra each provided $7 million for that project. The minister had been in discussions with Telstra about replicating or providing a service into the north, for a total of $12 million, of which Telstra would provide approximately 50 per cent, the state $3.05 million and the commonwealth the same amount. It is very disappointing that Minister Coonan has today said no in Broome, which town would obviously have been one of the recipients of the benefit. What I would like to see from the other side of the house - Mr M.W. Trenorden : That program should be totally supported. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Avon. I was just going to offer an invitation, because I thought that is where we might end up, for the National Party and also the Liberal Party to join with us in an endeavour to get Senator Coonan and the federal government to change their position on this. It will be of benefit to the outlying areas of the state. I am glad the National Party has automatically offered its support and I would ask for the same level of support from the Liberal Party. Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
I thank the member for Kimberley for the question. It was disappointing today to hear that the federal Minister for Communications, Hon Helen Coonan, appears to have basically ruled out joining with the state government as a partner to provide mobile phone coverage along the main highway north of Geraldton to Port Hedland and into Broome. My predecessor in this role approached the commonwealth government late last year. In fact, almost four months ago to the day, he wrote to the federal minister and basically suggested a replication of the partnership that had produced the Wireless West project, which completed 45 new CDMA mobile phone towers in the south west of the state, from Geraldton to Kalgoorlie and down to Esperance. The commonwealth, the state and Telstra each provided $7 million for that project. The minister had been in discussions with Telstra about replicating or providing a service into the north, for a total of $12 million, of which Telstra would provide approximately 50 per cent, the state $3.05 million and the commonwealth the same amount. It is very disappointing that Minister Coonan has today said no in Broome, which town would obviously have been one of the recipients of the benefit. What I would like to see from the other side of the house - Mr M.W. Trenorden : That program should be totally supported. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Avon. I was just going to offer an invitation, because I thought that is where we might end up, for the National Party and also the Liberal Party to join with us in an endeavour to get Senator Coonan and the federal government to change their position on this. It will be of benefit to the outlying areas of the state. I am glad the National Party has automatically offered its support and I would ask for the same level of support from the Liberal Party. Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Mr M.W. Trenorden : That program should be totally supported. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Avon. I was just going to offer an invitation, because I thought that is where we might end up, for the National Party and also the Liberal Party to join with us in an endeavour to get Senator Coonan and the federal government to change their position on this. It will be of benefit to the outlying areas of the state. I am glad the National Party has automatically offered its support and I would ask for the same level of support from the Liberal Party. Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Avon. I was just going to offer an invitation, because I thought that is where we might end up, for the National Party and also the Liberal Party to join with us in an endeavour to get Senator Coonan and the federal government to change their position on this. It will be of benefit to the outlying areas of the state. I am glad the National Party has automatically offered its support and I would ask for the same level of support from the Liberal Party. Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Kimberley for the question. It was disappointing today to hear that the federal Minister for Communications, Hon Helen Coonan, appears to have basically ruled out joining with the state government as a partner to provide mobile phone coverage along the main highway north of Geraldton to Port Hedland and into Broome. My predecessor in this role approached the commonwealth government late last year. In fact, almost four months ago to the day, he wrote to the federal minister and basically suggested a replication of the partnership that had produced the Wireless West project, which completed 45 new CDMA mobile phone towers in the south west of the state, from Geraldton to Kalgoorlie and down to Esperance. The commonwealth, the state and Telstra each provided $7 million for that project. The minister had been in discussions with Telstra about replicating or providing a service into the north, for a total of $12 million, of which Telstra would provide approximately 50 per cent, the state $3.05 million and the commonwealth the same amount. It is very disappointing that Minister Coonan has today said no in Broome, which town would obviously have been one of the recipients of the benefit. What I would like to see from the other side of the house - Mr M.W. Trenorden : That program should be totally supported. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Avon. I was just going to offer an invitation, because I thought that is where we might end up, for the National Party and also the Liberal Party to join with us in an endeavour to get Senator Coonan and the federal government to change their position on this. It will be of benefit to the outlying areas of the state. I am glad the National Party has automatically offered its support and I would ask for the same level of support from the Liberal Party. Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
I thank the member for Kimberley for the question. It was disappointing today to hear that the federal Minister for Communications, Hon Helen Coonan, appears to have basically ruled out joining with the state government as a partner to provide mobile phone coverage along the main highway north of Geraldton to Port Hedland and into Broome. My predecessor in this role approached the commonwealth government late last year. In fact, almost four months ago to the day, he wrote to the federal minister and basically suggested a replication of the partnership that had produced the Wireless West project, which completed 45 new CDMA mobile phone towers in the south west of the state, from Geraldton to Kalgoorlie and down to Esperance. The commonwealth, the state and Telstra each provided $7 million for that project. The minister had been in discussions with Telstra about replicating or providing a service into the north, for a total of $12 million, of which Telstra would provide approximately 50 per cent, the state $3.05 million and the commonwealth the same amount. It is very disappointing that Minister Coonan has today said no in Broome, which town would obviously have been one of the recipients of the benefit. What I would like to see from the other side of the house - Mr M.W. Trenorden : That program should be totally supported. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Avon. I was just going to offer an invitation, because I thought that is where we might end up, for the National Party and also the Liberal Party to join with us in an endeavour to get Senator Coonan and the federal government to change their position on this. It will be of benefit to the outlying areas of the state. I am glad the National Party has automatically offered its support and I would ask for the same level of support from the Liberal Party. Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Mr M.W. Trenorden : That program should be totally supported. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Avon. I was just going to offer an invitation, because I thought that is where we might end up, for the National Party and also the Liberal Party to join with us in an endeavour to get Senator Coonan and the federal government to change their position on this. It will be of benefit to the outlying areas of the state. I am glad the National Party has automatically offered its support and I would ask for the same level of support from the Liberal Party. Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Avon. I was just going to offer an invitation, because I thought that is where we might end up, for the National Party and also the Liberal Party to join with us in an endeavour to get Senator Coonan and the federal government to change their position on this. It will be of benefit to the outlying areas of the state. I am glad the National Party has automatically offered its support and I would ask for the same level of support from the Liberal Party. Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Mr P.D. Omodei : Have you discussed the matter with the minister? Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I have not done so personally, but she has been in receipt of correspondence from the previous minister. There was no response whatsoever. Today in Broome she was asked about it by Barry Haase, the federal Liberal member for Kalgoorlie, and she basically said no, the commonwealth would not be contributing. In the circumstances, and given that the commonwealth government has normally taken responsibility for the provision of telecommunication services in this state, as in the previous partnership arrangement in the south west, when it stepped up to the plate and offered to be a partner, I could not think of a worse abrogation of its responsibility than what the commonwealth has done now. I put the ball fairly and squarely in the court of the Leader of the Opposition. We would like to hear today, if possible, whether he will support us in seeking a change of position by the commonwealth so that people in the area that we have just been discussing in relation to a bill receive tangible benefits in a way that is beneficial to their lives.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.