The State Government has set aside another $11million, in the State budget, to further reduce the number of mobile phone blackspots.
Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford said it was planned to enter stage two of the program, after 100 tower sites had been identified for the first round.
“A work plan has been set up for the next six months,” Ms Pulford said.
Black spots would be removed in fire and flood prone areas, but there was also an important economic imperative as well.
“It’s just such an important topic, business productivity, and we are working hard to make sure we don’t have a digital divide, based on geography, in this state.”
We are working hard to make sure we don’t have a digital divide, based on geography, in this state.”
- Jaala Pulford
Ms Pulford said she had been in constant talks with the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) about improving communication.
“It will provide benefits to primary producers, it’s a terrible thing to be on a farm and talk about the hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment they can’t get the best use out of.
“It’s really frustrating.”
The government was also setting aside $46.2m to establish a new fire fighting training centre in the Central Highlands and upgrade the facility at Huntly.
An additional $80.7m would be spent on decommissioning Fiskville and conduct environmental audits and upgrades at six other operational emergency management training centres, across regional Victoria.
