I would like to bring a bit of perspective to the table, following the inner city troubles of the Queensland Rail fallout over the last couple of weeks.
A few trains were running 10 to 15 minutes late in Brisbane, a story which covered the front page of the Courier Mail for days.
A city with the option of buses, river ferries and expansive taxi networks seemingly thrown into turmoil because of scheduling issues.
Compare this to our plight in the bush.
The Inlander train failed to even run earlier in the year, leaving an entire delegation from the Country Women’s Association conference stuck waiting for 6 hours.
Over the Christmas break last year the community of Mornington Island was stranded in isolation for four weeks due to runway issues.
No one from the transport provider in this case got as near as a slap on the wrist, when there were solutions that could have solved the issue in days.
I also know of people that have turned up to the Mount Isa airport multiple times for a flight to Townsville, only to be told even the next day that the plane was still grounded.
No response with a replacement plane, just more waiting.
This included some families that had children booked in for hospital appointments that can often take months to get.
Yet none of these issues received action from the Transport Minister, let alone given a Courier Mail front page.
This isn't our only issue either.
Recently the communities of Burketown and Gregory have been without a phone for over nine days!
This is an absolute outrage yet not one Chief Executive Officer is facing the chopping block on the rural issues.
The people and media in Brisbane should consider how they would feel being domiciled in an isolated and very remote area for over a week, without a phone or being on an island with no access to the coast (no buses or river ferries) for weeks?
The people in the south east need to learn what real hardship can be and show some genuine empathy for their fellow Queenslanders in the regions.
Access to telephone communication can be a matter of life and death and I pray it doesn’t come to that before Telstra realise the seriousness of this issue. The people in the south east need to learn what real hardship can be and show some genuine empathy for their fellow Queenslanders.