Thursday, 7 March 2024

Monbulk electorate telecommunications infrastructure

Daniela DE MARTINO (Monbulk) (10:40): It was a challenging time for residents across my electorate of Monbulk following the storms of 13 and 22 February. Almost all residences lost power for a time after tornado-like winds tore through the area, and where the power went out the mobile towers soon followed when their very limited battery backups ran dry. Nothing makes a person feel so vulnerable and at risk of harm as losing their access to making a phone call, especially in times of emergency. To not be able to call 000 for up to three days is beyond the pale. It is dangerous, and it can only lead to disastrous outcomes.

My constituents across the Dandenong Ranges are, to borrow a term from the new member for Dunkley, ‘hills tough’, but we do not believe that we should be isolated from all communications because mobile phone companies have not bothered to invest some of their eye-watering profits into hardening their infrastructure. On 14 February, while none of us could make a phone call without driving for up to 25 minutes to pick up a mobile phone signal, Telstra posted a $1 billion profit. They can certainly afford to invest in building resilience into their mobile phone infrastructure. The technology exists, they have the money; they just need to take our safety seriously and do it.

I call on Telstra, Optus, TPG and Vodafone to improve mobile phone coverage across the ranges and eliminate black spots, to take steps to deliver more resilient infrastructure, to ensure mobile telecommunications are maintained during prolonged power outage periods and to restore coverage faster when coverage is lost. It is time to tell telcos: power the towers.