In the debate about the possibility of getting mobile phone coverage for the Copeton Dam area near Inverell, the Member for New England Tony Windsor is “the man who cried wolf’.
In response to my call for him to approach his Labor colleagues to seek funding for a mobile phone tower to service Copeton Dam, Mr. Windsor instead turns the clock back seven years and puts the blame on the Nationals because we supported the sale of Telstra. I’m glad he raised it, because he did not lift one finger to support the Coalition to future-proof rural and regional telecommunications.
In return for their support for the privatisation of Telstra, the Nationals were able to have $2 billion quarantined into the Future Fund and the interest would be used to improve regional telecommunications. However, in late 2008 the Rudd Government raided the fund with the intention of using it for its national broadband network which at that time had a price tag of $4.7 billion. The Senate passed amendments which would have prevented the loss of the $2 billion, but the government used its numbers in the House of Representatives to reject these amendments. Interestingly, Mr. Windsor was nowhere to be seen when that vote was taken.
When the legislation was returned to the Senate again, The Nationals crossed the floor to vote against the government’s money grab. This is another example of Mr. Windsor’s hypocrisy, taking pot shots at those who are working for rural and regional Australia yet being invisible when he could have supported us. I again ask the Member for New England to use his balance of power to demand funding for a mobile phone tower to cover the Copeton Dam area which is one of the most popular recreation spots in regional New South Wales.
Senator John Williams,
The Nationals Duty Senator for New England
