North West Tasmania has been left off the map by the Rudd Labor Government in its stage 2 plans for the National Broadband Network (NBN).
In Parliament yesterday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the seven new townships to access the NBN including at least one community in each Tasmanian electorate, except for the North West and West Coast electorate of Braddon.
Tasmanian Senator Richard Colbeck said while Smithton was announced as a community to gain NBN access under stage 1, there were no North West winners in stage 2.
“The PM warmly recognised the member for Franklin, the member for Denison, the member for Lyons and the member for Bass in his announcement, but there was no mention of the Member for Braddon, Sid Sidebottom,” Senator Colbeck said.
“This is a worrying trend of North West Tasmania missing out on critical funding due to the failure of Sid Sidebottom to adequately put forward the case of local communities.
“Why is it that of the 10 towns announced as part of stages 1 and 2 of the NBN, just one is located in the North West or West Coast regions?
“The North West and West Coast are desperate in wanting access high quality broadband internet services, yet Mr Sidebottom has let them down. He has not properly represented these regions and their communities adequately.
“This failure by Mr Sidebottom and the decision by the Rudd Government to go elsewhere in Tasmania will put local businesses and residents at a disadvantage which is plainly unfair.”
“Just last week, we saw the Prime Minister in Launceston and Hobart to consult with the community about health, but not Mr Sidebottom’s electorate of Braddon. Similarly, Agriculture Minister Tony Burke visited Hobart and the electorate of Bass, but didn’t come to Braddon to hear first-hand about the critical situation facing dairy farmers.
“Braddon also missed out on a promised cancer treatment service that instead went to Launceston while $30 million for the Wiltshire rail line has disappeared without trace.
“Mr Sidebottom said after the election, ‘I will be a bit of a different politician this time’ but it appears not much has changed.”
Towns announced as part of stage 2 of the NBN:
Bass: George Town
Braddon: NONE
Denison: South Hobart
Franklin: Kingston Beach
Lyons: St Helens, Deloraine, Sorell
Prime Minister’s comments from Question Time in Federal Parliament on 21 October:
“Today I am pleased to inform the House that stage 2 planning for high-speed broadband in Tasmania has commenced. Today, together with Premier David Bartlett, I can also announce seven new regional, urban and outer-urban locations across Tasmania that will be next to receive high-speed optical fibre broadband connections.
Work will begin on detailed planning for stage 2, including timeframes, numbers of premises and technical and procurement details for the following communities: Sorell, Deloraine, Georgetown, St Helens, Kingston Beach, South Hobart and others.
I am sure the member for Franklin, the member for Denison, the member for Lyons and the member for Bass will be keenly involved and interested in the rollout of these projects. These are good projects for Tasmania; they are good projects for the nation—infrastructure to turbocharge our productivity growth for the 21st century.”
Senator Richard Colbeck
