By Oliver Winn
With the Casey electorate’s unique geography in mind, telecommunication blackspots remain an issue for many residents and a common promise among the candidates running for this year’s federal election.
But, not all candidates prioritise telecommunications as one of the minor parties believe other issues like cost of living are more pressing.
It came after Liberal member for Casey Aaron Violi announced $3 million to improve mobile coverage for residents and businesses in the Yarra Ranges.
After the announcement, the Star Mail contacted all eight candidates to find out their stances on telecommunications in Casey.
Animal Justice Party (AJP) candidate for Casey Chloe Bond said while telecommunications are important, there’s other issues to be addressed first.
“Residents are being left homeless, the cost of living is causing families to have to choose between paying their phone bill and putting food on the table, and mental health issues and family violence are at an all-time high. Surely these are more dire issues to put this funding into,” Ms Bond said.
But, support for better telecommunications remained a top priority for the other candidates.
Casey independent Claire Ferres Miles said the issue of telecommunications intersects with living standards, especially during severe weather events.
“I would advocate to improve mobile phone coverage across Casey to eliminate blackspots – wouldn’t it be great to drive between Grants picnic ground, Kallista and Monbulk and the mobile phone keeps working,” Ms Ferres Miles said.
She planned to, if elected, meet with the major telcos of Australia to discuss better ways to maintain power to mobile towers during severe weather events to ensure access to Triple Zero isn’t affected.
One issue highlighted by Ms Ferres Miles was how mobile towers rely on diesel generators for backup power when a power outage occurs, which means the phone service shuts off once the generators are out of fuel.
Mr Violi also recognised the potential for outages caused by severe weather events and emphasised how emergency services were reliant on mobile coverage too.
“It is crucial that we invest in eliminating black spots and prepare our community for the
extreme weather events, like the 2021 storms and bushfires and those on Black
Saturday.”
“Improved telecommunications will also aid our emergency services in times of crisis, allowing them to provide rapid support to locals in times of need,” Mr Violi said.
Shadow Minister for Communications Melissa McIntosh said the Albanese Labor Government had “no interest” in improving telecommunications in the Yarra Ranges and regional Australia.
But, a Labor spokesperson said Labor had funded nine projects in Casey to improve mobile coverage, with its new universal outdoor mobile obligation adding up to 570 square kilometres of mobile coverage.
Labor plans to achieve this by using new low earth orbiting satellite technology which enables direct-to-device (D2D) services – where phones can connect directly to satellites rather than having to find the nearest mobile tower first.
The new technology would improve connectivity in places with poor reception while also making it possible to connect in areas where there wasn’t any connection in the first place.
It’s an update to the long-standing universal service obligation, a policy which only guaranteed broadband internet through NBN and landline and payphone access.
Meanwhile, the Greens’ Merran Blair highlighted the party’s commitment to a $3 billion communications fund to support regional and rural areas and said the potential for natural disasters put Casey at risk of losing its telecommunications coverage.
“I have lots of issues with my home internet and am always nervous about working from home. My internet actually dropped out during the first online Meet the Candidates event, hosted by Mum’s of the Hills,” Ms Blair said.
How the Greens would achieve this pledge is through battery backup systems on mobile coverage towers and generators for NBN nodes, which will help ensure mobile towers and NBN nodes stay working in the event of a natural disaster.
Family First candidate for Casey Dan Nebauer said he’d support better telecommunications in the electorate.
Trumpet of Patriots candidate for Casey Phillip Courtis was critical of Mr Violi’s funding pledge and said it was “too little, too late”.
“Aaron Violi has had three years to deliver for the people of Casey. If fixing these mobile blackspots was a priority, why hasn’t it already been done.”
One Nation candidate for Casey Ambere Livoli said funding for infrastructure had decreased under Labor, pointing to the funding cuts to the Sealing the Hills program in 2023.
But she did not specify One Nation would deliver funding for telecommunications and said it would be dependent on community feedback and the budget.
