The Committee, chaired by eye surgeon and former Australian Medical Association president Bill Glasson, held its first public meeting in Perth yesterday and will travel across the country to 19 destinations to hear from regional, rural and remote communities on telecommunications issues.
“The Committee is encouraging individuals, businesses, community and industry organisations, education, health and government service providers, carriers and others to contribute their views to the Review by attending the public meetings,” Dr Glasson said.
“The Committee’s ability to provide sound advice to the Australian Government on areas needing attention depends on the views of those living in Australia’s regional, rural and remote communities.”
The committee’s consultations will be conducted through until May, and a report on communications in the bush will be handed to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy in August.
“This will enable the Committee to take into account other Australian Government policies that will improve regional telecommunications across Australia, such as the National Broadband Network which will bring fibre-to-the-node broadband services to 98 per cent of the population,” Senator Conroy said.
Dr Glasson, who is also a member of Government’s Northern Territory Indigenous Taskforce, spends a considerable amount of his time in the bush treating infectious eye diseases and performing life-changing cataract operations.
Other committee members include National Farmers Federation telecommunications specialist Mark Needham; Queensland cattle station owner Bruce Scott; Northern Territory lawyer Josephine Stone; and Victorian agriculturalist Alexandra Gartmann.
For more Telecommunications news, click here.
