Dr Kelly made representation to the Minister for Communications Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy and received a reply that no action is to be taken.

The Minister responded with a long letter stating that "there are currently no plans to improve the reach of the ABC radio services to the Braidwood area. As you may be aware, national broadcaster related service extensions or enhancements are dependent on the availability of suitable spectrum capacity and the provision of appropriate additional funding for the proposed service extension.

Funding for such works would generally need to be considered by the Australian Government in the Budget context and in light of competing national broadcaster related priorities."

The letter went on to explain the reasons for bad reception and several methods of improving reception including; an external antenna available from an antenna or electric retailer, obtaining access to the ABC services via direct-to-home satellite, the internet or self-help retransmission.

For satellite, "the necessary equipment (a satellite receiver dish, and integrated receiver decoder and smart card) would cost in the vicinity of $1,000 to $1,800, depending on the size of the dish required and the household location.

For Internet, the ABC has advised the Braidwood Times separately that the download of radio is around 56mb per hour, which would cost differing amounts depending on ISP plans.

"Another option is to establish self-help transmitters to broadcast ABC Radio services to Braidwood. Under the self-help arrangements community groups or local councils purchase and maintain the equipment necessary to receive and locally retransmit the broadcasting service (radio or television) from either a nearby terrestrial transmitter or a satellite.

Self-help is an option if there is community interest in establishing a service and inc covering the costs associated with the ongoing and maintenance of the facility. There are currently no Government programs that provide funding assistance for the establishment or operational costs of ABC self-help radio services."

"The Braidwood community radio station 2BRW broadcasts from Mt Gillamatong. Miss Galiazzo may wish to contact his community group to discuss whether it may be feasible to add an ABC Radio service to that site, on a self-help basis. This may reduce the capital costs involved in establishing a self-help service in Braidwood."