Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

During the recent recess, I had the opportunity of meeting David and Goliath—David being the local residents of Bardon and Rainworth, and Goliath being the Telstra Corporation. Telstra is one of this nation’s most significant companies and one of our most successful businesses. It is an organisation of critical importance to the businesses and families of Australia. But during the break Telstra was quite naughty. What they did was send out a letter, which was inconsistent with their requirements, letting the people of Bardon and Rainworth know that they were going to install a mobile phone facility in Gerler Street, Bardon.

We all accept that we need mobile phone towers in our modern age, and we all realise their significance in the conduct of our work and their importance in daily communications, but, equally, we all know that there are potential health risks with such powerful technology. The bottom line is we do not know exactly what the implications of mobile phone towers are. The fact that the Telstra Corporation wanted to install a mobile phone tower some 170 metres from the Rainworth State School on Boundary Road in my electorate was cause for great consternation.

Tonight in the parliament I wish to give a flavour of the concerns of local constituents and, indeed, some constituents of the Labor electorate of Brisbane. The thread that goes through their concerns is health. These are people that clearly reveal they are educated, successful in business, community minded, family oriented and just regular mums and dads like their fellow Australians across the country. Yet the language they have expressed in the emails to me, Senator Conroy and Senator Minchin reflects a deep concern, a deep anger and a deep anxiety about what Telstra is doing and also what the federal Labor government is not doing. Tonight, in the time I have available, I want to reflect the words of Nicole, who is a constituent:

I am writing in regards to the proposed installation of a Telstra communications facility at 27 Gerler St. Bardon …

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As there is no conclusive proof of the health effects of EMR I have health concerns both for myself and for my partner as once the facility is installed we will be submitted to EMR 24 hrs a day. I conduct a music tuition business from the property as well and my concerns also extend to the well being of my students who range from children of the age of 4 to adults in their 50’s.

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I am not confident that the long term effects of EMR are harmless and after attending a consultation meeting conducted by Telstra on the 13th of October I am not convinced that Telstra will on the communities concerns.

EMR refers to electromagnetic radiation. As I said, we do not know the significance of this powerful technology. It may well be that in 10, 20 or 30 years time sufficient research is done to conclusively prove that there is no concern at all and that everything is fine in terms of its impact on the health of nearby residents. But, equally, there could be substantial consequences for the health of Australians who may be living close to these mobile phone towers.

I would like, as I have suggested to the federal member for Brisbane, both the government and the opposition to come together in a spirit of bipartisanship to try to do something that will address these concerns. I have no doubt that this is something that could be of quite significant interest to the rest of the country. Right now it only concerns the people of Bardon and Rainworth but, in the future, mobile phone towers are certainly going to be coming to areas across the country which may well include kindergartens, schools, aged-care facilities, retirement homes and hospitals. Certainly, we all know that there are huge concerns that still remain unanswered. (Time expired)