Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Paul Fletcher have disappointed thousands of communities across Australia today by failing to deliver on their promise to fix mobile coverage in areas that have little or no coverage.
Malcolm Turnbull today confirmed that over 3,000 communities will be forced to make do with poor or non-existent mobile phone coverage.
This is despite the fact that Mr Fletcher has racked up the frequent flyer points touring the country over the last 18 months building expectations that every man and his dog would get a new mobile tower.
The announcement will come as a disappointment to members of the National Party including the Member for Mallee Andrew Broad who told the Sunraysia Daily in February:
“We’ve been in government for 17 months now and are still fluffing around over it…Frankly, it is too slow to roll out…”
After “fluffing around over it” for almost two years, the Abbott Government has left thousands of rural and regional communities feeling underwhelmed and angry.
The Abbott Government raised expectations for this program and today it has let down rural and regional Australians.
The Government’s approach to mobile coverage has always been about politics.
More than 80 per cent of the locations for new mobile phone towers announced today are in Liberal or National electorates with less than 7 per cent in electorates held by Labor members.
Labor will be writing to the Australian National Audit Office to seek an assurance that appropriate guidelines and protocols have been followed.
THURSDAY, 25 JUNE 2015
MEDIA CONTACT: RYAN HAMILTON 02 9790 2466
