Margaret River region looking forward to much-needed National Broadband Network boost

Margaret River quietly gained a major windfall this week with news Anthony Albanese’s Federal Government would invest to bring Labor’s original vision of full high-speed internet to the region. Margaret River was singled out among WA regional centres for the overall $2.4 billion funding injection, approved in Tuesday’s Budget. While it could take up to four years for full-fibre access construction, the region’s creatives were salivating at the prospect of long-awaited high-speed connections which have hindered a range of industries and was previously identified as one of the biggest hurdles for the growth of smart industries and Margaret River’s potential as a central creative hub for WA. The Labor Prime Minister revealed the decision while visiting Albany, which along with Denmark was earmarked to have their outdated copper networks overhauled as part of the National Broadband Network. “Reliable, quality, high-speed internet is not a luxury or a nice-to-have — it is essential 21st century infrastructure,” Mr Albanese said. “Australians deserve the same access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet access regardless of whether they’re logging in from the bush or the ‘burbs.” Shire president Paula Cristoffanini told the Times “adequate internet is a matter of equity”. “I am hoping that our Shire sees additional investment to deliver a faster and more reliable NBN to allow our community to take advantage of an increasingly digital global economy and expand the options for people in this region to access remote work,” she said. Margaret River-based creatives including animator Mike Dunn were buoyed at the good news. “The long overdue rollout of high speed broadband services will definitely benefit my film post-production business that requires the uploading of large volumes of data to remote production facilities,” Mr Dunn said. Mixtape Creative boss Darren McCagh from Farmhouse Films said high-capacity internet was increasingly a necessity. “Our business relies on being able to offer this, as creatives in our space such as photographers and videographers require the ability to transfer large amounts of data in a timely manner to hit deadlines,” he said. “If they are unable to do this in a town like Margaret River, it very much limits opportunity for growth, through the inability to do work for clients not local to the town.” Documentary maker Richard Todd noted similar capacity requirements. “As the world turns to going more remote, the doco world has taken full advantage of this situation and now it is not uncommon to have a director in somewhere like the UK and the editor in Oz doing the whole edit without ever meeting,” he told the Times. “Unheard of a few years ago — so the faster the internet, the more the flexibility for moving footage and edits, when it is tough to move humans.” Users would have to request the connection, with fees for access yet to be confirmed.