Towering frustration with NBN outages
Is there an NBN performance guarantee? I'm on wireless and have now been off air three days this week and have just got an email advising that it will be off next Wednesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Pretty poor performance.
Peter Reddel
Malua Bay
Response from NBN spokesman: "As part of our network upgrade program we are currently conducting necessary upgrades to help support the Fixed Wireless network and we prioritising areas where some premises have been experiencing slower speeds. When we carry out an upgrade, the tower may be turned off at intervals throughout the day, which will affect some telephone and internet services of local residents who are connected to the network. We provide retail providers with notice of these upgrades and when they will be taking place. We recommend consumers restart their equipment to try connect back to their service. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause and we ask the community for its patience while these important works are carried out."
National congratulates Fiona Phillips
May I take this opportunity to congratulate Fiona Phillips and the ALP team on winning the seat of Gilmore in last Saturday's election. The ALP ran a very well-resourced and organised campaign and they did very well as a result. I'm quite sure everyone is relieved that the election is finally over!
May I also take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers who have assisted me, and all those who voted for me, in my campaign. I owe each of you a debt of gratitude and I am most appreciative of the faith that you have shown in me. Whilst our campaign itself was unsuccessful, we did very well from a standing start and it was a terrific learning experience for both myself and my team. Following a 25-year absence, The Nationals are very happy to be back on the ground in Gilmore!
I also wish to congratulate our local media for your relentless advocacy. There have been some fantastic (and frantic) announcements made during this election campaign, and you have been at the forefront of announcing them. I am sure you will be keen to keep the new member to account in successfully lobbying government for these to come to fruition.
Thank you once again everyone for your support, and congratulations again to Fiona Phillips on her successful campaign.
Katrina Hodgkinson
Nationals for Gilmore candidate
One more election?
In the September 2020 council election, let's hope a couple of the current, good-guy "newbies" don't chuck in the towel because of all their learning experiences. The lessons learned would put them in a much better position if re-elected to be positive influences. Let's have some new guys too, but let's not start again virtually from scratch with six newbies.
Thinking ahead, the GM should raise two time-sensitive subjects for councillors' consideration of how the next election should be approached - a responsible GM would of course be sure and able to give wise counsel on such matters. Both matters require agreement soon if a change is to be sought - notification of intent is required to be made to the state government 12 months before the election. If changes are contemplated, referendums will be held with the next election in 2020 to allow residents to decide what would happen at the 2024 election.
1. Should our shire persist with having a popularly elected mayor? The alternative system served us well up until a few councils ago - it means the nine councillors elect the mayor from their numbers at least on a couple of occasions during their term in office. Hopefully, those who closely see the candidates in action are better qualified than the rest of us who only see the public personas. More importantly, if the chosen one is a dud, we aren't lumbered for four years. You would expect a mayor elected in this way would try to retain the role by cooperating with and involving other councillors for the shire's betterment.
2. Should we return to wards based on geography? Residents in every part of the shire may feel better represented by those more aware of local issues and more locally accountable.
It won't really matter how these issues are raised but they do deserve to be discussed and considered objectively and altruistically with the final decision at an ordinary open council meeting.