Senate Committee Recommendations Reflect Community Concern on Towers.

Senate Telstra Bill Committee recommends no further towers be constructed near schools until health risks are known.

In September 1996, the Senate Environment, Recreation, Communications & the Arts Committee released a report concerning the sale of Telstra (formerly Telecom), titled Telstra, to sell or not to sell?- Consideration of the Telstra (dilution of public ownership) Bill 1996. The following is quoted from under the section:

Health issues relating to aerial cabling and mobile phone towers:-

(7.67) "A significant number of submissions received from community and environment groups and local government associations expressed concern about the potential health hazards presented by electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emissions from mobile phone towers."...

(7.68) "Australians have embraced the use of mobile phones and other new telecommunications technologies with great enthusiasm. In 1996, there were 3.3 million mobile phone subscribers, a teledensity by mid-1996 of approximately 17 per 100 population. Bearing this statistic in mind, it is incumbent upon the Government to ensure the safety of mobile phone users, and to provide early warning to users of any adverse health implications from the use of mobile phones or emissions from mobile phone telecommunications towers."

(7.69) "EMR may prove to be a hidden problem and is one which will not go away. The Committee is aware that community fears about the unknown effects of EMR have been exacerbated by lack of access to detailed scientific and medical research into the potential effects of EMR in Australia."

(7.70) "CSIRO acknowledged these fears in 1994 when it recommended that there needed to be an 'orchestrated research effort' into the safety of EMR of telecommunications frequencies;...."

Further on the report mentions the DOCA Committee on EME and Public Health and goes on to say:

(7.77) "The EME Committee has no confirmed reporting date and no preliminary reports are available. In the meantime, as more and more telecommunications towers emitting EMR are erected in urban settings, concern is growing among those living and working in close proximity to such towers."

(7.78) "The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) expressed its concerns to the Committee that aerial cabling and mobile phone towers may present a health hazard. ALGA recommended that an urgent examination of the most recent evidence on EMR exposure levels associated with mobile phone towers and other infrastructure was needed."

(7.82) "The Committee was concerned to learn that South Australian schools had accepted telecommunications towers on their premises in return for payments made by carriers. Figures of up to $100,000 per tower were mentioned. The Committee received advice from the South Australian Government that the decision to locate telecommunications towers within school properties was a local management decision taken by school principals and school councils. The Department of Education and Children's Services had endeavored to support schools in the decision making process by seeking advice and information from the SA Health Commission."

(7.83) "Given the fact that the South Australian Government had admitted that it was concerned about the location of towers, and that equivocal advice and no information other than the current Australian Standard was provided by the Department of Education and Children's Services and the SA Health Commission to school councils, the Committee was astonished to learn that school's were allowed to approve the erection of towers on school property."

(7.86) "In view of the difficulties some witnesses had experienced, the SA Government was asked to respond to the Committee's questions in relation to health concerns and EMR, and funding of research into EMR on behalf of the people of South Australia."

(7.87) "The SA Government's view was that the Australian Standard (AS 2772.1-1990) and the National Health and Medical Research Council Guidelines specified the recommended limits for public exposure to EMR, and that the public's exposure was 'significantly lower than the recommended limits specified'. It concluded that present day levels did not 'represent a public health hazard requiring any corrective action'."

(7.88) "In regard to funding for research, the SA Government recognized the importance of advancing an understanding of the health risks of EMR, and that there was a need for further national and international research.The SA Health Commission would monitor the results of the WHO's 1996 International EMF Project..." (see articles on DOCA Committee & WHO 's EMF Project )

RECOMMENDATIONS OF "TELSTRA" SENATE COMMITTEE:

"Recommendation 35: The Committee recommends that a levy be raised from telecommunications and other industry contributors responsible for EMR emissions to finance independent research into public health issues concerning EMR."

"Recommendation 36: The Committee recommends that no further mobile phone towers and bases be constructed in proximity to kindergartens, schools and Hospitals, and in any location where people may be at risk from long-term exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR), until further research is undertaken that shows there is no risk to public health."

And finally to mention one of the conclusions of the Senate 'Telstra' Committee:

(7.94) The Committee is concerned that in pursuit of a higher sale price, the Government will not impose adequate environmental safeguards to address these broad community concerns."