THE Telstra outage — which is costing the region $2.5 million a day — will be presented front and centre to Prime Minister Julia Gillard when state and territory leaders meet next Friday.
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Premier Ted Baillieu will raise the multi-million-dollar meltdown with Ms Gillard when the country’s six premiers and two chief ministers meet at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Canberra.
Federal member for Wannon Dan Tehan said the crisis was an issue of national significance and there were lessons which the whole nation needed to learn.
“What happened here could happen anywhere in the country,” he said. “We are duty-bound to ensure it will not happen again anywhere in the country.”
Mr Tehan said the meeting will be the most important gathering of political leaders in the country.
“We have had to learn the lessons the hard way but we must ensure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
“Premier Ted Baillieu will be able to put this front and centre when he meets with the Prime Minister. Telstra have committed to having all services restored by Friday.
“On Friday the Premier can inform the national leaders what has happened here and that there are lessons here which must be learnt across the nation.
“Cyber-terrorism is on the increase and our reliance on telecommunications grows every day.”
South West Coast MP Denis Napthine said the outage had been an economic disaster of major proportions. He said Ms Gillard and the Minister for Communications Stephen Conroy needed to see what was happening on the ground.
“It has put jobs and businesses at risk and had a real impact on people’s lives,” Dr Napthine said.
“We’ve seen no effort from the Prime Minister or the Minister for Communications to come down and see first-hand how devastating this is and to take back to Canberra the importance of this for south-west Victoria.
“I think the people of south- west Victoria would have every reason in this case to think that the federal Labor government have ignored them and neglected their concerns.”
Dr Napthine said the south-west had been treated like a backwater.
“There are lessons here for the whole of Australia, there are important economic issues here, there are jobs here.
“I’m the Minister for Regional Cities in Victoria. I’m trying to encourage people to come and live and invest in regional Victoria.
“We need support from the federal government on these telecommunications issues which are absolutely vital to the future of regional areas.
“If it was a flood or a bushfire the Prime Minister and the relevant ministers are there at the front and centre to fundamentally say ‘we care, we’re concerned, we’re listening to the plight of the community’.
“The Premier has already contacted them and the Premier expects to raise this at COAG and I would certainly be raising my voice. I would imagine that if this had happened in Melbourne or Sydney there would be people marching in the streets. South-west residents have been very patient and understanding.
“They understand Telstra and its people are working as hard as it can. What they want is a government that shows they understand and care, and that’s what is missing.”
