Jacqui Lambie has called on the state government to stump up cash and connect Tasmania to an intercontinental data cable.
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The Independent Senator for Tasmania said there was still a chance for Tasmania to take advantage of SubPartners’ offer to connect the state to its 10,000-kilometre marine data cable – but only if a decision is made in the next 60 to 90 days.
With the federal and state Labor opposition supporting the investment, Senator Lambie said “only one thing standing in the way” of higher quality data connectivity, at a lower cost, was the Tasmanian state government.
“There is a clock ticking on this once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver Tasmanian homes and businesses access to reliable, ultra-fast, fibre-optic cable,” she said.
"This is the sort of innovative, industry-building infrastructure investment this state needs to set itself up to attract new investments and businesses with the promise of capacity, speed and resilience.
“This is a $20 million dollar down payment on the state's cyber security, critical infrastructure, attractiveness to invest and future economic development.”
Industry and innovation leaders across the state have called on the state government to take advantage of the offer and connect Tasmania to the cable, which will run through the Bass Strait from Perth to Sydney.
The leaders say it would increase competition and lower costs to send data over cables to the mainland.
Minister for Information Technology and Innovation, Michael Ferguson, said "Jacquie Lambie is wrong”.
“The government is in active discussions with members of the Indigo Central consortium to ascertain what opportunities there may be for Tasmania from a connection,” he said.
“The SubPartners cable proposed three years ago was a very different project to what has become the consortium-based Indigo Central project.
“I am not going to undermine current discussions with the Indigo Central consortium by speculating.”