A SOUTH East politician says it is not feasible to have mobile phone coverage on every Limestone Coast farm following a horrifying farming accident in the region this week.
Member for MacKillop Nick McBride has responded to a growing backlash over mobile blackspots amid revelations the farmer – who tipped a hay truck – could not contact emergency services.
“It is a long stretch to think every farm should have mobile service,” Mr McBride said.
Avenue Range resident Lucy McCourt-Pearce has spoken out over the lack of coverage after her fiancé Jon Paenga was rushed to hospital due to the accident.
Mr Paenga was left stranded when his calls to 000 failed to connect in an area only “20 minutes from the nearest town”.
Despite public outcry due to lack of coverage, Mr McBride said there was roughly 500 identified blackspots across the state and it would take “years” before they were rectified.
“We have a long way to go to fix the blackspots already identified,” he said.
“Our focus is on making sure towns, road networks and gatherings of people have access to adequate phone coverage.
“We cannot have coverage at every farm or paddock – there are valleys and hidden areas and reasons why service does not reach – covering the whole of South Australia is not even on the radar.”
While he believed complete coverage was not feasible, Mr McBride did empathise with the community.
“I am a strong advocate for mobile phone coverage,” he said.
“We have identified five towers we are already trying to get in MacKillop and I am sure there are even more needed.
“I do feel the frustrations of the constituents as well as on a personal level.”
Ms McCourt-Pearce said while she understood it was not possible to give complete mobile phone coverage across Australia, accessing help in an emergency was a necessity and not a luxury.
“A lot of people have told us we should have a satellite phone or we should call 112 instead of 000,” she said.
“We live between Kingston and Lucindale, we are not in the middle of the nowhere.
“Surely we should get service.
“The misconception a lot of people have is the 112 number will work with no service – that has been taught in first aid courses which I am so disgusted in.
“The 112 number still needs a phone tower within range and you can find that information on the 000 website.”
Since Wednesday night, a post on Ms McCourt-Pearce’s social media has had more than 1000 shares and likes in addition to close to 400 comments.
These comments include people from across the nation sharing Ms McCourt-Pearce’s frustrations and telling their own stories of how a lack of mobile phone service has let them down.
Although many have told tales of tragedy, Mr Paenga was lucky to be released from hospital late Wednesday night.
“Thankfully Jon is at home resting now and is sore more than anything,” Ms McCourt-Pearce said.
“We are so grateful he was found and taken to hospital – but things could have gone very differently.
“Something has to be done before this happens to someone else.”
