Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have spoken previously about the concern over the placement of mobile phone towers in our communities. In the electorate of Adelaide, a number of my constituents are deeply concerned with the potential health impacts and the aesthetic implications of the increasing number of mobile phone towers being built. In particular, there is a very real concern about the impact of mobile phone towers in sensitive areas such as near childcare centres, schools and hospitals. However, under current law, residents are powerless to have their say on the placement of towers in their communities.

The Telecommunications (Amendment) Bill 2007 seeks to amend the Telecommunications Act to tighten the regulatory process surrounding the placement of mobile phone towers and their classification as either high- or low-impact facilities. It seeks to address those instances where we have effectively put the construction of these towers outside the democratic process. I wish to acknowledge my colleague the member for Capricornia, who is also supporting this bill. She too has been very vocal on this issue and active in response to the concerns within her community.

At present, local government and local communities have no power in regard to the placement of mobile phone towers which are classified as low impact. This bill aims to tighten the requirement for community consultation for towers which are classified as high impact and to encourage greater adherence to the code of conduct. The aim of this bill is also to prevent a tower which is located within 200 metres of a school, a childcare centre or a hospital, or in a residential area, from being classified as a low-impact facility. It would also prevent a tower being classified as low impact when the addition of that tower to a building would make the total height of all towers on that building exceed five metres.

The approval process for mobile phone tower placement differs greatly depending on whether the tower is classed as high impact, which is taller than five metres, or low impact, being under five metres. High-impact towers are subject to community consultation and local government approvals. Low impact towers are not, and residents have no avenue for important decision making over these facilities. However it is here that a deficiency in the current legislation lies.

While residents and local councils are consulted if one high-impact tower of five metres high is proposed, the law leaves telecommunications providers open to erect an unlimited number of low-impact towers despite their cumulative height reaching well over five metres. This has resulted in massive clusters of towers springing up in our communities, without local council input and state government planning permission and often against the will of the local occupants. This is the situation in my electorate where, in the most prominent example, a church roof is covered by, at last count, up to 19 mobile phone towers which are each just under five metres tall, meaning that, despite this being an enormous structure, under the Howard government legislation it is ludicrously still regarded as low impact. They are visually obstructive and residents are worried not only about the health impacts but also about the visual impact which these unattractive instalments may have on property prices. These towers are going up without the approval of local council, the church itself and its leaders and certainly without the approval of many of the local residents. That is what this bill today is essentially trying to address—those instances where we have effectively put the construction of these towers outside the democratic process.

Local communities have legitimate concerns about mobile phone towers and they deserve to have these concerns addressed. I am certainly not claiming that there is a link between phone towers and adverse health effects but the reality is that there remains widespread concern in our community and it has not been addressed by this government. What is needed is clear leadership on this issue and steps taken to reassure the community—steps which should include a national health audit of mobile phone towers to monitor the health of those living and working nearby high- and low-impact towers; the strengthening of public consultation requirements in the deployment of towers; and, in the immediate term, the empowerment of local councils to make planning decisions with respect to facilities located in close proximity to schools, kindergartens and hospitals. I urge the government to adopt this bill and give local communities a voice in the decisions which are affecting them. I believe residents should have a greater say in the placement of mobile phone towers in their neighbourhoods. I urge all members of this parliament to support this private members bill.

Bill read a first time.

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