Calls for help fall on deaf ears in Qld town that Telstra forgot
Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher has labelled telecommunications in his region “ridiculous and unacceptable” after phone lines failed again for the fourth time in two years.
The regional township of Lockhart River, 800 kilometres north of Cairns, is without telecommunications for the second time in April.
In 2018, the town went without contact with the outside world for six weeks after lightning struck a phone tower.
Then in 2021, it lost phone and internet services for four days due to a solar power incident in February before going dark once again in April due to intermittent power failures.
Councillor Butcher said with the threat of cyclones and weather systems in the region, heās tired of asking for a solution that wonāt come.
āWe canāt run our day-to-day business, we canāt run the Shire, we canāt call for an ambulance,ā he said in a statement.
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āThis has been going on every year for the past ten years Iāve been the Mayor, weāve seen promise after promise to fix the problem but no commitment to getting the job done.
āItās ridiculous and unacceptable.ā
Butcher said Telstra and the federal government had been notified of constant telecommunication issues but one day the disruptions may cost someoneās life.
Two groups of tourists are stuck in the area of Pascoe River, flooded in by heavy rainfall that has saturated north Queensland since the weekend.
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Last year, a couple and their child were emergency air-lifted 30km south of Lockhart River when heavy rain hit the region and they were left stranded.
āTelstra knows about it, the Federal Government knows about it, and we just keep knocking on their door, reminding them weāre having the same recurrence of events here, every year,ā the Mayor said.
āIt is going to cost someone their life, or lives, one day and itās honestly a wonder it hasnāt happened already, it feels like itās only a matter of time.
āItās a technical issue, itās fixable and it needs to be fixed.ā
In a statement, Telstra said services had been restored on Wednesday but recent torrential rain affected power supply to their site at Lockhart River, bringing down mobile and land services to the region.
āThe weather has also cut off roads and our technician choppered to and from the site to conduct repairs,ā Telstra Regional General Manager Rachel Cliffe said.
āWe are also seeking to improve services and network resiliency in Lockhart River as part of the second round of the Regional Connectivity Program and we are awaiting the outcome of this application.ā
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