Mr BALCH - 1999-10-19
Over some period of time, residents of the northern suburbs have visited my office in regard to television reception in the northern suburbs. This government has committed itself to improving television reception in the northern suburbs. Can the minister tell us where we are with this project?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, it is disappointing that the opposition shows a total lack of interest. For some time in the northern suburbs we have had the situation where television reception for viewers has been somewhat lacking and the reason …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I warn the member for Nhulunbuy - one more time and you are gone.
Mr ADAMSON: It is unfortunate that something of great interest to the people of the northern suburbs is being dumped on by those opposite. For some time the people of the northern suburbs in great numbers have experienced the problem of television ghosting. It was something this government attempted to rectify a decade or so ago with the NT House retransmission facility which sent out the Channel 8 and Channel 6 signals on UHF. While that solved part of the problem, many people in the northern suburbs still experienced signal reception problems due to low signal strength and a poor line of sight between NT House and their homes.
In my time as Minister for Communications in my previous stint, I commissioned a report to find for solutions. That was taken up very vigorously by my colleague the member for Sanderson when he picked up the portfolio. We have identified the ideal site for a northern suburbs retransmission facility as being Deloraine Road, where currently SBS, Channel 7 and a few of the other broadcasters are already located. Cabinet has allocated $169 000 for this retransmission facility. What we need now is a licence from the Australian Broadcasting Authority, for which we are applying. That is the only thing now that is standing in the way of, hopefully, solving this problem for the residents of the northern suburbs.
We have been very pro-active in the past. We brought television coverage to a great number of areas throughout the Northern Territory. The people of Katherine, Yulara, Jabiru, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and here in Darwin all benefit from the ongoing maintenance of facilities by this government. We have been a pro-active CLP government and we will continue to be so.
It is unfortunate that the opposition has seen this in such a poor light. I’m sure my CLP colleagues in the northern suburbs will be pleased with this outcome, an outcome that will benefit the people in the northern suburbs.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, it is disappointing that the opposition shows a total lack of interest. For some time in the northern suburbs we have had the situation where television reception for viewers has been somewhat lacking and the reason …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I warn the member for Nhulunbuy - one more time and you are gone.
Mr ADAMSON: It is unfortunate that something of great interest to the people of the northern suburbs is being dumped on by those opposite. For some time the people of the northern suburbs in great numbers have experienced the problem of television ghosting. It was something this government attempted to rectify a decade or so ago with the NT House retransmission facility which sent out the Channel 8 and Channel 6 signals on UHF. While that solved part of the problem, many people in the northern suburbs still experienced signal reception problems due to low signal strength and a poor line of sight between NT House and their homes.
In my time as Minister for Communications in my previous stint, I commissioned a report to find for solutions. That was taken up very vigorously by my colleague the member for Sanderson when he picked up the portfolio. We have identified the ideal site for a northern suburbs retransmission facility as being Deloraine Road, where currently SBS, Channel 7 and a few of the other broadcasters are already located. Cabinet has allocated $169 000 for this retransmission facility. What we need now is a licence from the Australian Broadcasting Authority, for which we are applying. That is the only thing now that is standing in the way of, hopefully, solving this problem for the residents of the northern suburbs.
We have been very pro-active in the past. We brought television coverage to a great number of areas throughout the Northern Territory. The people of Katherine, Yulara, Jabiru, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and here in Darwin all benefit from the ongoing maintenance of facilities by this government. We have been a pro-active CLP government and we will continue to be so.
It is unfortunate that the opposition has seen this in such a poor light. I’m sure my CLP colleagues in the northern suburbs will be pleased with this outcome, an outcome that will benefit the people in the northern suburbs.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016