CENTRAL Wheatbelt MLA Lachlan Hunter has torn into both the state and federal Labor governments over their silence on the long-delayed Talbot mobile tower, about 20km south-west of York.

Mr Hunter has accused them of abandoning regional communities and squandering taxpayer funds.

“The Talbot base station, funded under Round 5A of the former Liberal and Nationals government’s Mobile Black Spot Program, was meant to deliver basic mobile connectivity to the Talbot district; a community still battling black spots that put lives, livelihoods and local businesses at risk,” he said.

“Instead, the project has been left in limbo following the collapse of delivery partner Field Solutions Group (FSG) and both levels of Labor government have gone missing in action.

“I wrote to the state Minister on May 1. I wrote to federal Labor Minister Anika Wells on May 19, the day she was sworn in.

“The WA government at least had the decency to respond within four weeks. Federal Labor took more than three and a half months to cough up a pathetic, cookie-cutter reply; not even from the Minister, but from a staffer.”

He said the federal government’s response, finally received on September 2, failed to address basic questions about the tower’s status, whether taxpayer funding remains secure, or what contingency plans are in place.

“The people of Talbot deserve more than silence and spin. They deserve to know if the mobile tower they were promised is ever going to be built or if Labor has simply walked away.”

“This is about public safety. This is about farmers needing signal in the paddock. It’s about families being able to call for help. And yet all we get from federal Labor is delay, deflection and a disgraceful lack of interest in regional WA.”

Mr Hunter said it was clear the former coalition government had a plan and it was Labor that had failed to deliver.

“Labor is very good at cutting ribbons and making announcements, but hopeless at delivering for the bush. If this tower was in the middle of Melbourne, it’d be fixed by now.”

“Minister Wells needs to front the community and guarantee this project will be delivered or explain why regional taxpayers are footing the bill while getting nothing in return.”

Mr Hunter acknowledged the WA government’s commitment that state funding remains on the table, but said the ball was now firmly in federal Labor’s court.

“If Labor can find billions for city stadiums and inner-city spin machines, they can find the will to deliver one mobile tower for a small Wheatbelt town.”

“The people of Talbot don’t want excuses - they want coverage. And I won’t stop until they get it.”