Mr ENTSCH: I’d like to present petitions EN6025 and EN0611 from the Speewah community.
The petitions read as follows—
Speewah community is subject to continual and prolonged disruptions to telecommunications due to inadequacy of TELSTRA’s battery supply at the Speewah exchange. Speewah, only 16km from Cairns, is an isolated tower with no alternate tower within reach due to terrain. In the event of loss of power, current battery capacity is a mere 59 minutes’ maximum, after which community safety and business are compromised, with no internet or phone coverage, or power. Should a resident be taken ill or have an accident, there are no means of contacting emergency services. This is exacerbated after heavy rain or during cyclones, as all the creeks flood to the extent of being impassable, preventing either emergency or resident transport of the afflicted person. Our immense vulnerability was demonstrated during inundation following Cyclone Jasper. Businesses throughout the community are also profoundly impacted. Request:
We therefore ask the House to : 1. Instruct the carrier TELSTRA CORPORATION to upgrade/increase the capacity of its battery supply at the Speewah exchange to provide at least 8 hours backup supply in the event of an electricity outage. This should occur before next cyclone season, ie November 2024. 2. Instruct the carrier TELSTRA CORPORATION, to provide an automated Emergency Power Plant (EPP) to power the said site once battery power is depleted, to allow charging of batteries and supply to the site in the event of extended outages, for example, cyclones. This should occur before the next cyclone season, ie prior to November 2024.
from 37 citizens (Petition No. EN6205)
Reasons: The Speewah community is subject to continual and prolonged disruptions to its telecommunications due to the inadequacy of the TELSTRA battery supply at the Speewah exchange. Speewah, only 16km from Cairns, is an isolated tower with no alternate tower within reach due to terrain. In the event of loss of power, current battery capacity is a mere 59 minutes’ maximum, after which community safety and business are compromised, with no internet or phone coverage, or power. Should a resident be taken ill or have an accident, there are no means of contacting emergency services. This is exacerbated after heavy rain or during cyclones, as all the creeks flood to the extent of being impassable, preventing either emergency or resident transport of the afflicted person. Our immense vulnerability was demonstrated during inundation following Cyclone Jasper. Businesses throughout the community are also profoundly impacted.
Request: We therefore ask the House to 1. Instruct the carrier TELSTRA CORPORATION to upgrade/increase the capacity of its battery supply at the Speewah exchange to provide at least 8 hours backup supply in the event of an electricity outage. This should occur before the next cyclone season, ie prior to November 2024. 2. Instruct the carrier TELSTRA CORPORATION, to provide an automated Emergency Power Plant (EPP) to power the said site once battery power is depleted, to allow charging of batteries and supply to the site in the event of extended outages, for example, cyclones. This should occur before the next cyclone season, ie prior to November 2024.
from 448 citizens (Petition No. PN0611)
Petitions received.
Mr ENTSCH: These petitions have been considered by the petitions committee and are in order. The petitions state that Speewah is facing continued and long disruptions to telecommunications due to the inadequacy of Telstra’s battery supply at the Speewah exchange. While Speewah is only 16 kilometres in line of sight from Cairns, it is isolated from a telecommunication standpoint due to the surrounding terrain. In the event of an outage, the Speewah exchange battery backup power supply only lasts for one hour. This vulnerability was evident during the most recent cyclone Jasper event.
A physical copy of the petition EN0611 has secured 448 signatures and the digital version of the petition has secured 37 signatures. Both petitions call for Telstra to improve the battery backup supply for a duration of at least eight hours. Preferably this upgrade would take place before the next cyclone season beginning at the end of 2024. In the event of outages longer than eight hours, the petition states that Telstra should provide a supplementary power supply to enable telecommunications to continue and to enable batteries to charge.
I strongly support the petition and I’d like to thank Suzanne Grinter as principal petitioner for raising awareness on this very important issue. (Time expired)
