1999   Hon Wayne Swan* MP,  (ALP Lilley) states:

“In fact, in 1997 the federal government amended the Telecommunications Act to ensure that there is no federal regulation of high impact telecommunication towers. They deliberately took this matter out of the hands of the federal government and placed it in the hands of local councils, who are simply not qualified to deal with the health and safety aspects of high-impact telecommunications towers. The zoning of high-impact towers is now entirely in the hands of local councils”.

Reference: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/chamber/hansardr/1999-11-25/0178/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType%3Dapplication%2Fpdf

Email: Wayne.Swan.MP@aph.gov.au

2005  Hon Anthony Albanese* MP  (ALP, Grayndler)

On his website,  it is stated that:  “Since 2000, he has been calling on the Government to make changes to the Telecommunications Act 1997 to better protect the interests and concerns of local communities”.

Reference:
http://www.anthonyalbanese.com.au/file.php?file=/telstra_towers.html

Email: A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au

2007   Hon Kate Ellis*  MP  (ALP, Adelaide)

“Upon closer examination I discovered that the laws governing these towers are flawed and in dire need of a rewrite. Far too often the community and indeed the local councils just do not get to have their say and these decisions are made outside of the democratic process.  The little guy gets trodden on by the powerful telecommunications companies”.

Reference:
http://www.kateellis.com.au/files/articles/20070923_Mobile_Phone_Towers.pdf

Email: Kate.Ellis.MP@aph.gov.au

2011   John Alexander* OAM   MP (LIB, Bennelong)

“This is an issue of great concern to any community, and apparent tactics of intimidation designed to make residents feel helpless, are not in line with a corporate citizen’s responsibilities”.

Reference:
http://www.johnalexander.net.au/content/parliametary-speech-telstra-tower-mobbs-lane-100211

Online contact form: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/memfeedback.asp?id=M3M

2009   Hon Tony Abbott*  MP  (LIB, Warringah)

“My first big local campaign, as an MP, was to prevent Telstra from installing a mobile phone base station next to a kindergarten”.

Reference:
http://www.liberal.org.au/Latest-News/2009/12/16/Leader-of-the-Opposition-Address-to-the-Millennium-Forum.aspx

Email: Tony.Abbott.MP@aph.gov.au

2011   Hon Bob Baldwin* MP (LIB, Paterson)

“In particular, there were concerns there was a basic conflict of interest, as Port Stephens Council was both the beneficiary and decision maker in this process, since it owned the land on which the tower was proposed”.

Reference:
http://www.bobbaldwin.com.au/articles/latest-media-releases/paterson-electorate/corlette-phone-tower

Email: Bob.Baldwin.MP@aph.gov.au

2011   Michelle Rowland*  MP  (ALP, Greenway)

“Once again, I thank the residents of Quakers Hill for making their voices heard on this issue. I am committed to advocating on their behalf to ensure that Telstra on this occasion—and all other carriers in future—take local residents' concerns into account”.

Reference:
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;orderBy=customrank;page=0;query=mobile%20phone%20towers;rec=7;resCount=Default

2000  Hon Steve Gibbons* MP  (ALP, Bendigo)

“As honourable members are only too well aware, most telecommunications carriers have virtually a blank cheque from this government to roll out their infrastructure with no community consultation whatsoever. The councils are not consulted, the people affected are not consulted. The Howard government in 1997 specifically amended the Telecommunications Act 1991 to exempt private carriers from the environment and planning laws of state, territory and local governments. Under this legislation, what is classed as a low impact facility, such as an extension or modification to an existing tower, is exempt from state, territory and local government environment and planning legislation”.

Reference:
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;orderBy=customrank;page=2;query=mobile%20phone%20towers;rec=6;resCount=Default

Email: Steve.Gibbons.MP@aph.gov.au

1998   Hon Robert McClelland*  MP  (ALP, Barton) 

Mr McClelland, pursuant to notice, moved—That this House:
(1) notes that there exists significant scientific controversy as to the effects of exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted from mobile phone towers;
(2) resolves that current legislation should be amended to require that mobile phone towers not be installed within a radius of 300 metres from schools and playgrounds;
(3) resolves that the telecommunications industry be levied to raise funds to conduct research into the health and safety aspects of electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile telephone towers; and
(4) calls for a review of Australian standard AS2772 which relates to electromagnetic radiation emissions

Reference:
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;orderBy=customrank;page=0;query=mobile%20phone%20towers;rec=2;resCount=Default

Email: R.McClelland.MP@aph.gov.au

2006  Kelvin Thomson*  MP  (ALP, Wills) 

“In my view, the local community should have the final say on whether mobile phone towers are installed. At the last election, Labor took a stricter mobile phone tower policy to the electorate. This policy was designed to strengthen the regulatory regime governing mobile phone towers. The focus of the policy was giving local communities a greater say on phone tower planning decisions and closing loopholes in the existing phone tower regulations. Under the policy, Labor committed to: empowering local councils to make planning decisions with respect to all facilities located in close proximity to schools, kindergartens or hospitals; tightening the definition of ‘high-impact facility’ to include the replacement of existing facilities used for other purposes; and requiring the Australian Communications Authority to provide expert advice on requests to local councils on whether or not a proposed facility is high impact.

Of course, we were not elected, and the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, has, unfortunately, ruled out any legislative change on this issue by the Howard government. By contrast, Labor’s shadow communications minister, Stephen Conroy, has stated that Labor will be reviewing its policy on mobile phone towers and improving it by seeking feedback from interested parties in the lead-up to the next federal election”.

Reference:
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;orderBy=customrank;page=1;query=mobile%20phone%20towers;rec=0;resCount=Default

Email: Kelvin.Thomson.MP@aph.gov.au

2005   Senator the Hon Helen Coonan   (LIB, NSW)

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, today announced a package of initiatives to improve the way mobile phone towers are deployed. “I am aware that some communities and individuals are concerned about the actions of carriers in installing mobile phone towers ,” Senator Coonan said. “This package of initiatives agreed to by the carriers will help address these concerns, and I welcome the industry’s commitment to be more transparent in its processes,” Senator Coonan said. “The initiatives include improved community notification requirements, increased public education, improving the look and design of towers, independent audits of electromagnetic emissions (EME) from towers, and a new EME reporting framework.

“The carriers have also given an undertaking to avoid placing a tower  on single residential dwellings without the approval of the landowner. I have asked the Mobile Carriers Forum (representing Hutchison, Optus, Telstra and Vodafone) to consider further initiatives to minimise the impact on residential properties, for example extending this undertaking to multi-storey residential buildings.

“I will also be seeking an undertaking to each of these initiatives from other carriers, including wireless broadband providers,” Senator Coonan said. The Telecommunications Act 1997 provides carriers with exemption from State or Territory legislation to install certain specified facilities, primarily those which are defined as low-impact facilities. However, when installing such facilities, carriers must comply with the requirements specified in the Australian Communications Industry Forum code, including strict consultation requirements. 

“I believe that the current regulatory framework continues to balance carriers’ abilities to meet consumers’ needs to access telecommunications services, while still recognising a community’s interests in its environment,” Senator Coonan said. “Nevertheless, there is scope to fine tune and add clarity to current deployment practices while still enabling carriers to continue to provide access to mobile phone and wireless broadband services in a timely manner.”

The package of initiatives was unveiled at a meeting today in Canberra with representatives from the industry, Tower Sanity Alliance, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, and the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. “Today’s meeting was very productive and I understand that the industry will continue to meet with community representatives to examine options for further improvements to existing practices, such as the provision of training to carriers’ contractors on deployment processes,” Senator Coonan said.

Reference:
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;orderBy=customrank;page=0;query=mobile%20phone%20tower%20senator;rec=2;resCount=Default

2003  Senator John Cherry  (DEM, QLD)

Media Release:
Government downplaying risks of mobile phone towers.  The Federal Government is continuing to downplay the risk of electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone towers and should be offering active support to the Federal School community in who are opposing a phone tower base station being built near the school, according to the Australian Democrats.

Democrats Communications spokesperson Senator John Cherry, who meets with concerned residents at Federal today, said the relaxing of the national standard on phone tower radiation by the Federal Government last year ignored the precautionary principle, and the most recent research on health effects.

“Standards Australia and the CSIRO warned that there was no case to relax the standards to allow for higher levels of radiation, but the Government proceeded anyway to back industry calls to allow for higher levels of radiation,” Senator Cherry said.

“Yet research collated by biophysicist Neil Cherry, after reviewing over 600 studies, found that the level of radiation needed to impact on health could be as low as 3% of that which current regulators regard as safe.

“The Government will now also have to contend with the groundbreaking NSW Court of Appeal decision last week upholding a council decision to reject the siting of a mobile phone towers  on environmental grounds.

“The Democrats believe that the precautionary principle should also apply more emphatically on health as well as environmental grounds.

“The Democrats initiated a major Senate Inquiry into electromagnetic radiation, which recommended a wide-ranging research plan and more sensitive siting of mobile phone towers. In the last year, some of the recommendations of the Inquiry have been accepted including:
- The setting of a Code of Practice discouraging the siting of towers in ‘community sensitive’ places such as schools, hospitals and aged care centres;
- The establishment of a $2.5 million Centre of Research Excellence into Electromagnetic Radiation;
- The establishment last week of a Health Complaints register by ARPANSA (the radiation levels regulator).
“The Democrats strongly back the efforts of the community of Federal to prevent the inappropriate siting of mobile phone towers. We have led the campaign in Federal Parliament to give the community more rights over tower sittings for five years.

“The Federal Communications Minister needs to start listening to the community and taking account of what the health researchers and the courts are saying, and act to prevent the siting of phone towers in inappropriate places like our schools,” Senator Cherry concluded.

Reference:
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;orderBy=customrank;page=1;query=mobile%20phone%20tower%20senator;rec=8;resCount=Default

2000  Senator Trish Crossin* (LAB, NT)

Parap Mobile Phone Tower - Government Should Act Now.   Northern Territory Labor Senator Trish Crossin has called on the Federal Government to make urgently needed changes to the local and national planning framework for the construction of mobile telephone towers.

Senator Crossin said the Federal Government and the telecommunications industry needed to work together to significantly improve the planning framework to achieve a better balance between the national development of communications infrastructure and the interests and concerns of local communities across the nation.

"As we have seen recently in Parap, and other places, time and time again the concerns of the local community whom may be affected by the location of telecommunication towers are ignored.

"A number of residents have expressed their concerns to me about the recent installation of a mobile phone tower on top of the Paravista Motel in Parap," Senator Crossin said.

"Often the first thing the community knows about the proposal to locate the towers in their communities is after construction starts. It is clear that the current framework is not working to the satisfaction of local communities and changes needed to be made.

"The problem is not going to go away. The community obviously wants mobile telecommunication devices but the Federal Government, the telecommunications industry and carriers must listen to local community interests and concerns, and must consult and cooperate more with local communities than they are doing at the present," Senator Crossin said.

Reference:
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;page=0;query=trish%20crossin%20phone%20tower;rec=0;resCount=Default
Online contact form:   http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/senators/homepages/contact.asp?id=7Y6

2000  Shadow Minister for Local Government, Senator Sue Mackay (LAB, TAS)  

has expressed concern about the Government's proposed Code of Conduct for the erection of mobile phone towers.

"The obligation for telecommunication carriers to consult with local communities is a long-awaited development, and is welcomed by the Labor Party. However, there is no mechanism under the current proposal that allows communities to ensure that their concerns are properly considered," Senator Mackay said.

"This could lead to the frustrating position where local communities may have expressed reservations or concerns about the installation of a particular  tower , but are powerless to stop the installation going ahead," Senator  Mackay said.

Last month the Labor Party proposed a five-point plan to achieve a better balance between the national development of communications infrastructure and the interests and concerns of local communities.

"Local communities and councils must be given a real say. The exact parameters of this role are something that the Labor Party will be exploring in discussions with local government representatives and telecommunications carriers.

"The establishment of the Australian Communications Industry Forum working group, which brings together industry groups and local government bodies, is a move welcomed by the Labor Party.

"Together these groups must work towards the development of an industry code that can address both the needs of the emerging telecommunications industry, as well as incorporating concerns raised by the community.

"The current proposal put forward by the Government is heading in the right direction. However, it does not go far enough to ensure that community concerns are both heard, and then addressed," Senator  Mackay said.

Reference:
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;page=0;query=sue%20mackay%20mobile%20phone%20towers;rec=0;resCount=Default