Greens call for wireless precautions

The NSW Greens have called for precautions to protect people from radiation from mobile phones and towers.

”If we don’t take action now deaths and illness linked with mobile phones could be the 21st century equivalent of the asbestos industry,” said Ms Lee Rhiannon, MLC.

The party has tabled the following demands:

  • Dept of Local Government to require all local councils and shires to
  1. refuse planning approval for antennas within 500 metres of schools, childcare centres, hospitals and residential centres
  2. ensure consultation of residents before erection of antennas
  3. maintain a register of antennas in their area
  4. take random audits of antennas in their area
  5. ensure all mobile phone masts have marked exclusion zones with hazard warning lights and protective barriers.
  • Dept of Fair Trading to ensure handsfree earpieces are reasonably priced
  • Dept of Health to implement health studies of mobile phone users and people living or working near mobile phone antennas including:
  1. monitoring of cancer rates among workers exposed to phone radiation
  2. establishing a database of the radiation output of all mobile phone towers in NSW.

The Greens’ demands are being supported by British physicist and researcher, Mr Barrie Tower, who said “There are in excess of 1000 research papers now warning governments of the risk of low level micro-wave radiation. A number of countries now have an exclusion zone of 500 metres around base stations. It would be wise for Australian governments to introduce such a requirement.” (Press release, 4.8.00)

EMRAA News Sept 2000, Vol 5 No 3

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