[LINK] NBN and CWA - who knew?

[Jan Whitaker]

Women of the shire brigade fight for NBN link

Bianca Hall
April 13, 2012 - 3:00AM

FIRST it was scones, then it was fracking - now Country Women's 
Association branches in Victorian and New South Wales border areas 
are taking on the federal government over its National Broadband Network plans.

''We stick up for the shire,'' said the Berrigan branch secretary, 
May Hill. ''We don't want all our young people to just disappear, and 
the more industry we can get in Berrigan, the better it is. At the 
moment it's booming because there's a lot of rice and we've got good 
agriculture, but we're looking at the long term.''

Berrigan has been told that because its population is fewer than 
1000, it will not be connected to fibre optic technology under the 
NBN, but a combination of satellite and wireless broadband.

This will give the town and its neighbours Jerilderie and Coleambally 
peak internet connection speeds of 12 megabits a second, compared 
with 93 per cent of Australians, who will get speeds of up to 100 
megabits a second.

The CWA argues that the slower internet speeds will stymie business 
investment and make it more difficult to attract young people to the towns.

But the federal government says communities in this position can look 
elsewhere to pay for fast fibre optic connections, such as local or 
state governments. A spokeswoman for Communications Minister Stephen 
Conroy said no Australian would miss out on improved internet 
''speed, affordability and reliability''.

''The NBN will once and for all smash the tyranny of distance and 
allow Australians living in rural and regional areas the same access 
to broadband services as those in the cities, at the same cost,'' she said.

But the CWA begs to differ. In a submission to the government's third 
review of the NBN rollout, which will hold hearings next week, the 
group says the lower internet speeds in small towns will hasten the 
decline of small communities already struggling with the Murray 
Darling Basin Plan policy, outward migration and climate change.

It would also push people in the southern Riverina and NSW and 
Victoria border irrigation districts into larger centres.

A spokeswoman for the Berrigan Shire Council said smaller communities 
needed faster NBN speeds more than larger ones.

The council, which has also lodged a submission with the review, said 
an ageing population meant that attracting young families would be 
difficult without investment in technology.

''That a relatively compact shire in area three hours from Melbourne 
and well serviced by a National Highway and the Riverina Highway is 
considered so remote by NBN Co that it requires all three types of 
broadband technology further confuses the issue,'' the spokeswoman said.

Victorian CWA president Carol Clay said the fight for internet speed 
was core CWA business.

''In small towns they work so hard to keep their little communities 
together,'' she said. ''It really is very difficult and they fight so 
hard to keep that standard of living in their lives. And, really, 
nothing's changed, we're just as much needed as we were, the same 
sorts of problems with isolation and feeling neglected are still so relevant.''

This story was found at: 
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/women-of-the-shire-brigade-fight-for-nbn-link-20120412-1wwmy.html 




Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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