WA Minister clears up misunderstanding on radio communications

The Western Australia Commerce Minister, Michael Mischin, has responded to a request from Critical Comms to clear up some apparent confusion regarding the role of radio in emergency communications in the state.

In an article published online by Critical Comms on 15 September, we reported on a press release issued by the Minister's office concerning the expansion of mobile phone coverage in Western Australia, and in particular in the locale of Wilga. In the press release the Minister was quoted as follows: "The new connectivity in Wilga, which is surrounded by native State forest, means that Shire of Boyup Brook employees can now use mobile phones rather than radio, and emergency services are able to attend call-outs faster than ever before."

Upon learning that this quote may have been misunderstood, on 24 September we invited the Minister to send us a statement to clarify the situation. We received the following from his office today, 9 October:

"His comments were in the context of an announcement concerning the extension of mobile telephone and wireless broadband services to Wilga, a community that had until now suffered from inadequate coverage. He did not say, as suggested by the headline, “mobile will beat radio for emergency coverage”, or otherwise comment on the merits of mobile telephones against mobile radio in emergencies.

"As a result, the Minister has clarified the preferred use of radios and mobile phones during emergency incidents and stated: 'Emergency services organisations will continue to use very advanced radio communications systems to manage an incident. The use of radio is vital to the State’s emergency services. However, due to greater mobile coverage provided by the Royalties for Regions $40 million Regional Mobile Communications Project, the public can now use mobile phones to report emergencies.'"

We thank the Minister for responding to our request to clarify the situation and for reiterating the importance of radio in public safety communications.