Whanganui MP Carl Bates seeks better digital connectivity for Pātea

The main street of Pātea. Photo / Bevan Conley

A New Zealand-wide survey conducted in 2021 brought bad news to those in the Whanganui electorate who rely on digital connectivity.

Based on 2018 Census data, the survey ranked Whanganui 65th out of 65 electorates for digital exclusion.

There’s a clear disparity in connectivity between the large centres like Whanganui and the connectivity available in smaller towns and rural.

In an age when we have become more and more dependent on digital devices in daily life, time stands still both along State Highway 3 and when you get to Pātea.

Whanganui MP Carl Bates saw this for himself some weeks ago when he watched the owner of a new Pātea business struggle to get a signal to process a payment via the Eftpos system.

So he has launched a petition calling on his Government to get Pātea connected.

His petition states: “It defies belief that you can’t get a reliable cellphone signal on State Highway 3 in the middle of Pātea. The state highway north of Whanganui is peppered with mobile black spots but Pātea stands out, for all the wrong reasons.”

“Connectivity is crucial to our businesses’ ability to get ahead, to our children’s education, to our resilience as a region, to our local businesses and to our local economy. Pātea deserves better.”

Bates notes that the former National Government started delivering world-class ultra-fast broadband and rural broadband rollout but that it stalled under Labour which was unable to meet its own targets.

As the local MP, he plans to be a staunch advocate for better wireless connectivity for the South Taranaki town.

Bates met with the Pātea-Waverley Community Board on Monday where his announcement on the petition was enthusiastically received.

He has already discussed his plans with Minister for Media and Communications Melissa Lee’s office and will meet with Minister Lee to present the petition to her at a later date.

Hard copies of the petition will be delivered around the electorate in the coming days, but it is already live at https://national.org.nz/getpateaconnected – for those who can get an internet connection, that is.