Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Public Accountability and Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to speak in support of the community campaign against the mobile phone tower planned for the corner of Kent and Cumberland Roads, Pascoe Vale, in the electorate of Wills. In 2004 I supported and participated in the community campaign against Hutchison 3G erecting a mobile phone tower in Cole Reserve, also in Pascoe Vale. That tower required council permission because it was on council land, and the council, to its credit, did not give permission. Unlike the 2004 situation, there has been no application to council for a permit for the mobile phone tower planned for the corner of Kent and Cumberland Roads. Telstra says that this tower is a low-impact facility as defined in the Telecommunications (Low-impact Facilities) Determination 1997 and does not need a permit.

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.

I want to congratulate those responsible for the community campaign. For example, they organised a rally on 15 July, which was very well attended—notwithstanding the miserable weather at the time. This is a situation where telecommunications carriers should not simply pat councils and local residents on the head and say, ‘We know best,’ in this area of safety. They need to do the hard yards of persuading local residents that these facilities are needed, warranted and justified. They will be required to do the hard yards if residents have an effective power of veto through their local councils—and this is the direction in which we need to move.