Cape York Weekly FREE – #080 | Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Editor: Matt Nicholls 0477 450 558 | editor@capeyorkweekly.com.au
BIG FUTURE FOR FARM
After sitting dormant for more than a decade, Napranum’s farm is making a comeback with a major partnership. Full story – Page 7
LOCKHART RIVER DESPERATE FOR ACTION
Don’t forget us By MATT NICHOLLS
LOCKHART River mayor Wayne Butcher is hoping a close federal election race in Leichhardt will be the catalyst for a major upgrade to the town’s disgraceful telecommunications network. The Cape York community has the worst mobile phone service in
Far North Queensland with regular outages and almost non-existent data access. Telstra has ignored Lockhart River’s problems while the federal government – which has upgraded many mobile phone blackspots around Australia – has yet to fund a solution. “We need to get fibre optic cable
running to Lockhart River – it’s an expensive process but a long-term solution for our community,” Cr Butcher said last week. “Aurukun got the fibre optic cable and it was a game-changer for them. They went from having a mobile phone service like ours to having the best speeds in the Cape. “We are not asking for 5G like
the cities, we are simply asking for a reliable 4G service.” Cape York Weekly understands the cost of running a fibre optic line to Lockhart River would come with a hefty price tag. But Cr Butcher said the cost of not fixing the issue could be greater. Continued – Page 6
M P 0 .3 7 M O R F K IS BAC 0 2 L I R P A Y A D S E WEDN