Martha HAYLETT (Ripon) (14:38): (261)

My constituency question is for the Minister for Government Services.

Would the minister please provide me with an update on the Andrews Labor government’s massive $550 million Connecting Victoria program?

Poor mobile reception and black spots are the bane of so many people’s existence in our rural and regional communities. CFA members tell me their local black spots raise serious safety concerns for emergency service volunteers. Businesses in Talbot and stallholders at the monthly market tell me they lose sales due to the town’s black spots. Residents in the growing suburb of Lucas cannot get mobile reception unless they are with a particular telco, and others at new housing estates across Maryborough can only make calls if they hold up their mobile phones on their front decks.

The Connecting Victoria program will address so many of these issues, fast-tracking improvements to mobile and broadband connectivity through more than 1200 mobile projects and more than 180 broadband projects across Victoria.