❓ Hon John Fischer raises concerns about telecommunications disparities in WA, particularly mobile coverage in regional areas. Hon Ken Travers responds, emphasizing the Commonwealth's responsibility and outlining the State's efforts to secure funding and advocate for improved services.
AnsweredQoN 1368Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
The telecommunications needs assessment recently released by the Minister for State Development made numerous adverse findings about the regions, including that there are significant disparities in access to communications services between those region close to Perth and those further away, particularly regions in the north of the State. The assessment found also that less than eight per cent of Western Australia’s landmass will have mobile phone coverage with the completion of the current mobile roll-out program. Given the crucial importance of telecommunications in my electorate, in particular mobile telephone access, what is the Government doing to resolve this issue quickly? Hon KEN TRAVERS
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of this question. It is fundamentally the Commonwealth’s responsibility to provide telecommunications services to the nation. The State Government is using the telecommunications needs assessment to present data to the Commonwealth about communications gaps, such as the need for mobile phone coverage in non-metropolitan Western Australia. The needs assessment included a list of coverage gaps. We are using that to negotiate with the Commonwealth to alleviate the problems. The Commonwealth has made $15.9 million available nationwide for expansion of terrestrial mobile phone coverage to towns that exceed a population of 300. We are seeking to access as much of that fund as we can for Western Australia. The Minister for State Development would welcome the member’s support in advocating the State’s mobile telephone needs to the Commonwealth to ensure it fulfils its responsibilities. I recently had the good fortune of attending the ministerial council meeting on online issues on behalf of the minister, at which we again made sure that the Commonwealth is well aware of the shortcomings in Western Australia.
Hon KEN TRAVERS replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. It is fundamentally the Commonwealth’s responsibility to provide telecommunications services to the nation. The State Government is using the telecommunications needs assessment to present data to the Commonwealth about communications gaps, such as the need for mobile phone coverage in non-metropolitan Western Australia. The needs assessment included a list of coverage gaps. We are using that to negotiate with the Commonwealth to alleviate the problems. The Commonwealth has made $15.9 million available nationwide for expansion of terrestrial mobile phone coverage to towns that exceed a population of 300. We are seeking to access as much of that fund as we can for Western Australia. The Minister for State Development would welcome the member’s support in advocating the State’s mobile telephone needs to the Commonwealth to ensure it fulfils its responsibilities. I recently had the good fortune of attending the ministerial council meeting on online issues on behalf of the minister, at which we again made sure that the Commonwealth is well aware of the shortcomings in Western Australia.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. It is fundamentally the Commonwealth’s responsibility to provide telecommunications services to the nation. The State Government is using the telecommunications needs assessment to present data to the Commonwealth about communications gaps, such as the need for mobile phone coverage in non-metropolitan Western Australia. The needs assessment included a list of coverage gaps. We are using that to negotiate with the Commonwealth to alleviate the problems. The Commonwealth has made $15.9 million available nationwide for expansion of terrestrial mobile phone coverage to towns that exceed a population of 300. We are seeking to access as much of that fund as we can for Western Australia. The Minister for State Development would welcome the member’s support in advocating the State’s mobile telephone needs to the Commonwealth to ensure it fulfils its responsibilities. I recently had the good fortune of attending the ministerial council meeting on online issues on behalf of the minister, at which we again made sure that the Commonwealth is well aware of the shortcomings in Western Australia.
Hon KEN TRAVERS replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. It is fundamentally the Commonwealth’s responsibility to provide telecommunications services to the nation. The State Government is using the telecommunications needs assessment to present data to the Commonwealth about communications gaps, such as the need for mobile phone coverage in non-metropolitan Western Australia. The needs assessment included a list of coverage gaps. We are using that to negotiate with the Commonwealth to alleviate the problems. The Commonwealth has made $15.9 million available nationwide for expansion of terrestrial mobile phone coverage to towns that exceed a population of 300. We are seeking to access as much of that fund as we can for Western Australia. The Minister for State Development would welcome the member’s support in advocating the State’s mobile telephone needs to the Commonwealth to ensure it fulfils its responsibilities. I recently had the good fortune of attending the ministerial council meeting on online issues on behalf of the minister, at which we again made sure that the Commonwealth is well aware of the shortcomings in Western Australia.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. It is fundamentally the Commonwealth’s responsibility to provide telecommunications services to the nation. The State Government is using the telecommunications needs assessment to present data to the Commonwealth about communications gaps, such as the need for mobile phone coverage in non-metropolitan Western Australia. The needs assessment included a list of coverage gaps. We are using that to negotiate with the Commonwealth to alleviate the problems. The Commonwealth has made $15.9 million available nationwide for expansion of terrestrial mobile phone coverage to towns that exceed a population of 300. We are seeking to access as much of that fund as we can for Western Australia. The Minister for State Development would welcome the member’s support in advocating the State’s mobile telephone needs to the Commonwealth to ensure it fulfils its responsibilities. I recently had the good fortune of attending the ministerial council meeting on online issues on behalf of the minister, at which we again made sure that the Commonwealth is well aware of the shortcomings in Western Australia.
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.