The landscape was vast and exacting, the weather harsh and insurmountable distances emphasised the isolation from the rest of the world.

Prior to the completion of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line in 1872, news reports could take weeks to travel between Australian capital cities and months to reach residents in remote communities.

It’s a far cry from today’s world of social media and the 24 hour news cycle. 

While most of Australia is now sufficiently connected, the tyranny of inadequate digital connectivity is still affecting parts of rural regions.

Three quarters of the state of Queensland is classified as ‘the outback’.

Online communication is often only available to residents outside large towns through the expensive and, at times, unreliable satellite service NBN Sky Muster.

In the McKinlay Shire, Nelia boasts a scattering of houses, a historical Post Office, a menagerie of free-range chickens and 10 people and the Corella Creek Country Farmstay is the only business in town.

But despite its remote location, business owners Georgie Westlund and Eric Alloway credit online visitor portals for generating almost all of their bookings.

“We only started dabbling on the internet when we started up the business but now we would be completely lost without it,” Georgie says. “We receive all bookings and enquiries through Booking.com, Airbnb and our Facebook page.”

Nelia receives minimal mobile coverage yet it can attribute almost all of its tourism dollars to digital connectivity.

“We often receive phone calls from people who have found us on Wikicamps as they are driving the highway,” Georgie says. 

The limitations of the Sky Muster satellite services do not often allow for remote businesses to offer Wi-Fi services and the lack of digital connectivity can be off-putting for travellers. The Federal Government has committed to erecting 68 base 4G mobile phone stations in outback Queensland in its $100m mobile phone blackspot program.

McKinlay township is scheduled to have a phone tower installed in 2018. The town has a population of 20 people and boasts one of Australia’s most iconic pubs, Walkabout Creek Hotel, featured in the celebrated 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee.

Debbie and Frank Wust purchased the hotel in 2014 and benefit from the pub’s position on the Landsborough Hwy.

“From an emergency contact point of view I can understand the need for mobile phone coverage here as we do get so many travellers passing through,” Debbie says.

Debbie says it will take some getting used to once the tower is installed.

“I am considering banning the use of mobile phones in the bar area as I would hate to see everyone texting on their phones rather than talking to each other,” she says.

Another 78km along the Highway is Kynuna with a population of 10 people, a roadhouse and the historic Blue Heeler Hotel, famous for ties with Banjo Patterson and Waltzing Matilda.

McKinlay Shire Mayor Belinda Murphy has advocated twice for the inclusion of Kynuna in the mobile phone blackspot program but both applications were declined.

“The government responded by saying Kynuna is too small a community to warrant installing a phone tower,” Cr Murphy says.

Cattle production is the biggest industry in McKinlay Shire and Cr Murphy considers adequate digital connectivity to be an essential component for station owners to run their businesses and have access to social interaction and education.

“Cattle producers need to be able to operate their businesses effectively by having access to internet banking, invoicing systems, emails and online cattle trading sites,” Cr Murphy says.

“There are still station owners out here paying with cheques because they cannot log onto internet banking.”

Attracting and retaining staff to work on rural properties is also a financial concern for remote business owners.

“It is always hard to attract staff for remote work, but it is impossible when the station has no internet access at all,” Cr Murphy says.

“Often the first question business owners are asked by prospective workers is whether they have Wi-Fi.”

While McKinlay Shire station owners have access to the Sky Muster satellite facilities, the service can be intermittent and easily affected by weather. 

There are also complaints about constrictive limits on data usage and allocation, with the majority of data supplied only becoming available during off-peak hours.

Kristy Sparrow is a rural internet services advocate who administers the Facebook page Better Internet for Rural, Regional and Remote Australia. 

Kristy acknowledges the difficulties regional residents and businesses face with inadequate online services.

“Along with restrictive data allowances, the unreliability of the Sky Muster satellite service has created significant impacts to the education, business, health and welfare of regional Australians,” Kristy says.

The social side of online interaction for isolated outback residents is also a consideration with a report released by the National Rural Health Alliance in March detailing the rate of suicide in rural areas of Australia being 40 per cent higher than in major cities. 

Children living on remote properties also require reliable online access for educational purposes as The School of the Air (SOA) for remote learning is incorporating new technology and bringing the SOA into the digital era.

Community leaders in the McKinlay Shire are campaigning for improved rural coverage and services. 

Mayor Belinda Murphy believes working together with the government and telecommunications provider, Telstra, is the way forward for remote areas. 

“I will continue to work alongside Telstra to achieve results for our region,” she says.  “Rurally, we are not going to move forward and we are not going to attract staff to work in our businesses unless we have the digital connectivity people are looking for.”