Senator Anne Urquhart

Chief Government Whip in the Senate
Senator for Tasmania

MEDIA RELEASE

Granville Harbour residents to spend another bushfire season without decent mobile coverage

The residents of Granville Harbour on Tasmania’s remote West Coast will spend yet another bushfire season without decent mobile phone coverage thanks to a failure of their local MP to step-up. 

In April 2020 Gavin Pearce MP, the Member for Braddon, made a commitment to residents of Granville Harbour that, not only had funding been committed for a new mobile phone base station in the area, but the funding was now allocated and work on the base station should begin soon.

The service, contracted to Telstra, was to be delivered by June 2022.

After complaints from local residents that no progress had been made, my office pursued the matter and has been advised by Telstra that the facility will not be in operation until at least April 2023.

That’s one more bushfire season away.

Quotes attributable to Anne Urquhart, Senator for Tasmania.

“It was annoying to have to let Granville Harbour residents know that they have been let down.”

“These residents will have to wait through one more bushfire season to get the basic mobile phone coverage they were promised by Mr Pearce back in 2020.”

“Mr Pearce talks big on delivering for the West Coast of Tasmania. Talk is cheap!”

Media contact: Susan Wallace: 0418372198