Page 2474 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 22 August 2006
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answer the many questions put to them and often unable to provide any satisfactory responses.
Rather than simply trying to make political mileage out of this issue, I wrote to every affected neighbourhood across the electorate of Molonglo that could have possibly been directly affected by the roll-out of the 3G technology. I asked my constituency to contact my office to put forward concerns and I made sure that they were given adequate consideration when any party was set to reconsider the location of certain mobile phone towers as part of the 3G roll out across the ACT.
Given my concerns for the welfare of residents, I sought out the relevant studies and counsel from the telecommunications industry representative bodies to ascertain a very solid position about the impact on our community that these towers would have. To be frank, I am generally satisfied with the evidence presented to me and would encourage other members of the Assembly to take the time to seek out specific evidence as to the effect that EME, or electromagnetic emissions, pose to public safety. I think the minister has quite clearly outlined the guidelines that are in force here.
I must qualify my remarks by saying that in some circumstances some of the towers were clearly going to be co-located in public spaces that were simply not practical and could easily have been moved, if even ever so slightly, to ensure that any specific community was satisfied with the outcome. I believe that the relevant telecommunications companies have sought to do so to the best of their ability. To answer Dr Foskey’s confusion about the plan changing, of course it will change, and to date several of the proposed towers have been relocated to more appropriate sites after public lobbying.
The Liberal opposition undertook genuine consultation, as this was a grassroots electorate issue that could affect not only the people living nearby to the proposed towers but also the growing number of mobile phone users who in fact are continuing to demand an improved and heightened level of service. We endeavour to take a balanced approach to this issue and we have consistently provided such an approach when attending community consultation meetings or direct consultation with the telecommunications industry.
I must pose a question to all my colleagues in this Assembly: who are we to impose any restrictions on the Canberra community and seek to overtly or negatively impact the roll-out of the 3G technology, thereby possibly impacting upon the overall effectiveness of the service that Canberrans deserve and certainly are increasingly demanding? In this day and age, people’s access to such technology as broadband, blackberry, email, et cetera are now considered the norm. Would we all as members personally wish to hold back a roll-out of technology that, as assessed by all the relevant telecommunications providers who have a presence here in the ACT, is something Canberrans now want and should be available to them in full form? I ask whether there are any members in this Assembly who have no desire to embrace new technology.
Members who have sought out any balanced viewpoint on the impact of towers associated with the delivery of 3G technology would be aware of the negligible impact of any emissions these towers may produce. The emissions issue is somewhat neutral in this debate. Telecommunications organisations have provided the evidence and have given a firm commitment that emissions fall well below the Australian standards and
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