We’ve spoken for too long about the need for action to solve the data drought in rural Australia but we’ve seen little action.
It’s taken us a long time to get where we are with the NBN rollout, and it hasn’t delivered. It’s failed the pub test.
We keep hearing promises that the service will get better, but farmers who rely on satellite NBN keep telling us they aren’t getting the connectivity they need to run their businesses or allow their children to do their homework, or entertain their families.
Which is why this week the VFF joined a coalition of 17 organisations in taking the call for better telecommunications services all the way to Canberra.
We took on the politicians in the bush capital directly by putting forward our case to bridge the digital divide separating us in the country from our city cousins.
The politicians have the power to implement changes, and it’s vital they hear from people who are affected.
The NBN hasn’t provided the solution that we hoped it would provide and on top of that we have challenges with mobile blackspots.
This is deeply concerning when you consider the Productivity Commission recommended in its report into the Federal government’s Universal Service Obligation that the NBN should be used as the main method for delivering a baseline level of service.
We need to ensure that the telecommunications services enhance, not limit, the potential benefit that internet services can deliver to rural areas.
Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said earlier this year that the Australian agriculture industry was entering a golden era. That might not be quite true just yet, but the potential is there.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) forecast early this month that agriculture production will increase by 8.3 per cent to a record $63.8 billion in 2016-17.
If we want to see great gains in the agriculture industry, then we need support from all sides of politics to ramp up investment in rural telecommunications to make sure we can stay on top of our game. Better data and mobile coverage in rural areas is going to lead to an even more efficient and productive state and country, and service providers need to be responsive to farmers or become a drag on national productivity.