Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with Senator for the Northern Territory Malarndirri McCarthy about the Telstra outage in Maningrida

Transcript

Katie spoke with Senator for the Northern Territory Malarndirri McCarthy about the Telstra outage in Maningrida · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Oh, yesterday on the show, you would have heard us
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: talking about the situation in Maningrida. We caught up with
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the mayor of the West Aarnthhamshire and he told us
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: about the concerns with the telephone lines, also the Internet
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: being down and that telephone service being very much intermitt
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: and now we had been told late yesterday that it
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: had all been rectified, but we're hearing again from people
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: in man and Greta this morning that there are still
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: some issues.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Now.
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  Speaker 1: Joining me on the line is the Senator for the
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Northern Territory, the Labor Senator, Melanderie McCarthy. Good morning to you, Malandierie.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, good morning to your listeners.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Now this is something that has been a concern now
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  Speaker 1: since Thursday last week. We understand that there are some
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Telstra technicians out in Maningrida today and we ended up
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: getting a statement from Telstreet yesterday. But Malandiery, it is
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: still a concern, isn't it.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. I'm still getting calls from people in Maningrida or
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: texts letting me know that this isn't as satisfactory. What's
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: seemed to be a really happy moment late yesterday afternoon
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: has now turned into some more despair Katie, and more
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: than frustration, like I'm actually ropable that this is still
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: a major concern when we're only a few days out
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: of Christmas. We have residents across Man and Greta who
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: had contracts with Telstra and I will certainly be going
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: really hard with Telster if this is not.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Six and the statement that we received yesterday from Telstra,
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  Speaker 1: I will read it out to you. It says Telstra
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: is currently working to resolve an intermitted issue with three
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: and four G mobile services in Man and Greta that's
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: been impacting services since December sixteen. However, landline services and
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: NBN Internet services are not impacted and continue to work.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: It goes on to say we believe the problem is
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: related to our local transmission network and looking to get
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the issue resolved as soon as possible. We apologize for
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: any inconvenience course to local rescis it's during this time.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: In relation to f Post, most f POST machines have
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: a capability to connect via fixed line, Wi Fi or
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: mobile services, and we always encourage stores across the NT
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: to have a backup connectivity option to ensure that they
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: can continue trading and supplying services in case of an outach. Senator,
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  Speaker 1: what is your response to that statement from Telstra yesterday?
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  Speaker 2: Well, clearly that is not good enough as well, at Katie,
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: because their response yesterday is a far cry from what
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: is actually happening in Man and Greta today and the
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: reality is that Telstra is not fulfilling its obligation to
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: people who have contracts with Telstra, to people who expect
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: a higher response and communication in terms of when things
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: go well, and in this instance there's been little, if
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: any communication other than something on a website that says sorry,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: that is not good enough. And I'm saying Telstra, if
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: you're listening, I will be calling for a Senate inquiry
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: into Telstra communication across remote and regional Australia, in particular
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: in arnham Land, because this is happening way too often
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: and the slackness of Telstra in supporting people in our
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: remote and regional Australia is just not on well.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: So you actually think there needs to be a Senate
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: inquiry into this and into the issues that we've got
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: in regional and remote Australia. I know that you know
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: that's Man and Greta is not the only one in
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: the territory. We very often get contacted about Dundee, for example,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: So you actually think there needs to be a Senate
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: inquiry into this.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. I heard residents from Dundee speak about concerns they have.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: I certainly know there's concerns in Central Australia and this
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  Speaker 2: is just the tip of the iceberg. Firstly, I want
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Telster to fix the problems in Maningreda right now, but
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: secondly there will be a longer term view as far
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  Speaker 2: as I'm concerned that we should be looking at a
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Senate inquiry into Remote Region Australia Technology.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Senator, I've got to say, you sound, to put it
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: pretty bluntly, you sound really pissed off this morning.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Totally, Totally, this has gone on way too long. I've
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: been speaking to residents since Friday and the expectation warns
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: it what's to be fixed. On Friday. They went through
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: Saturday and Sunday, no fuel, no food, no ability to communicate.
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  Speaker 2: Come Monday, they get a little bit of a relief
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: when in reality it's pretty gam and Katie, sorry, absolutely gamming.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: This is not good enough. Teltra is a major corporation.
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  Speaker 2: It has incredible amounts of money with contracts with Australians
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  Speaker 2: across the country and it is not fulfilling its obligation
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  Speaker 2: in Maningrida.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Well, Senator, I reckon there is people out there listening
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: this morning who will be feeling the same those in Maningrida,
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  Speaker 1: I know, and also in Dundee who've contacted us, like
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: I said, on numerous occasions. And after we'd spoken about
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: this yesterday though, was saying, Katie, it's not just Managrita.
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  Speaker 1: What about all the calls we've contacted you about when
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: it comes to Dundee. And look, you know we haven't
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: forgotten their either. So I think there will be a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people who agree with you this morning listening
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  Speaker 1: to what you've got to say.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: And Katie, just one more thing at tell us again
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  Speaker 2: if you're listening, you know, the most decent thing you
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: could do is offer people out there at least some
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  Speaker 2: credit towards their contracts for the inconvenience that you've caused
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: them since Thursday, and anyone else for that matter, who's
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: out there that's experiencing problems.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Well, Senator for the Northern Territory Melandarie McCarthy, we always
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you very much for speaking with
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: us this morning.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: Thank you