LABOR ABANDONS NORTH EAST IN DIGITAL SWITCHOVER
05-April-2011
Labor’s neglect for North East Victoria has left hundreds of local residents out of pocket and without a television signal.
Federal Member for Indi, Sophie Mirabella MP says that Labor has rushed the rollout of digital TV and has neglected to consider the geographic characteristics of North East Victoria.
The Department of Broadband and Communications offered a satellite subsidy for residents living in areas that would not receive a digital transmission signal, but many homes in the North East didn’t qualify under Labor’s guidelines.
“There are hundreds of people across the North East that couldn’t qualify for the satellite subsidy because the Government failed to consider the impact of our terrain on television signals,” said Mrs Mirabella.
“Towong shire residents in particular have been frustrated by the guidelines. I have spoken to a number of residents who are about to lose their analogue television signal, but have not been able to access the subsidy because the guidelines say your signal needs to be perfect.
“What the Government doesn’t seem to understand is that when you live in a hilly or mountainous area, it’s very difficult to get a perfect signal. So all of those people who have been living happily with a slightly scratchy signal are now being told; ‘too bad, you never had a signal, so you don’t get the satellite subsidy’.”
The Satellite Subsidy Scheme was made available to households that rely on terrestrial analogue signals from self help towers, which are not being converted to digital, to assist with the conversion to the VAST satellite network. However, under the Government’s guidelines, the subsidy is only available to residents who receive a perfect signal from the tower.
“Many of these self help towers were set up by the very people who are being told they don’t receive an adequate signal and can’t qualify for the subsidy, so I can understand their frustration.
“But this is symptomatic of Labor’s communication policy. They have ignored bread and butter communication issues like these because they are so busy trying to promote their NBN white elephant,” Mrs Mirabella concluded.