Community Independent candidate for Gilmore, Kate Dezarnaulds, is calling for urgent action to fix persistent mobile blackspots, which are disrupting daily life for residents and leaving the region ill-equipped to handle peak holiday periods.

As school holidays bring a surge of visitors to the South Coast, locals say they’re being left high and dry when it comes to basic mobile coverage, which hurts hurting businesses, frustrates tradespeople and puts emergency services at risk.

“We live in one of the most beautiful parts of Australia—but when the crowds arrive, our mobile networks crash,” she said.

“Local businesses lose sales, tradies can’t get job details, and when someone needs an ambulance, you can’t even get a signal. That’s not just inconvenient, it’s dangerous.”

From Berry to Kangaroo Valley and all along the Princes Highway down to Turros Head, patchy reception and dropped calls are a regular occurrence.

Locals report outages worsened by the 3G shutdown, and promised improvements have not materialised. Business owners say the issue is especially damaging during school holidays, when trade should be booming.

“We regularly have customers in tears because they can’t transfer money or use their mobile banking apps,” said Alison Hayes-Chessell, who runs The Garden Berry café and restaurant. “It’s not a good look for a town that relies on tourism.

“We use a digital waitlist to manage busy periods, but when the internet crashes, the system’s useless.

"People think it’s our fault when they can’t access the link, but it’s the coverage. It’s frustrating and it’s costing every business in town. Visitors constantly ask, ‘Is this normal?’ And unfortunately, we have to say yes. It’s embarrassing, and it’s affecting the reputation of Berry as a place to visit or move to.”

Joshua Carrol, a new Gilmore resident, says it is affecting his ability to run his digital business.

“It’s 2025, and I still can’t get consistent internet here. It’s beyond frustrating trying to run a digital business under these conditions. I moved to the region thinking it’d be the perfect work-life balance — turns out, I spend more time battling Wi-Fi than building my business.”

The federal government previously announced $6.5 million to fix blackspots in Gilmore, but residents say they’ve seen no real improvements, according to Dezarnaulds.

With the May 3 federal election looming, many in the community say they’re fed up with empty promises and political point-scoring.

“As an Independent, I’m not tied to party lines, I’ll stand up for what this community actually needs,” Dezarnaulds said.

She points to Independent MP Helen Haines as proof of what’s possible.

“Helen helped secure $20 million for mobile blackspots in regional Victoria. That’s the kind of result we need here on the South Coast. We’ve been promised better service before, but nothing’s changed. It’s time to hold decision-makers to account.”