Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Senate notes:

  (a)   the release by the World Health Organization's cancer research report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which states that radio frequency electromagnetic fields generated by mobile phones are 'possibly carcinogenic to humans' and asserts that heavy usage could lead to a possible increased risk of glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer;

  (b)   the warnings of Dr Charlie Teo, one of Australia's leading brain surgeons and former Australian of the Year finalist, that 'there is an increasing body of evidence that there is an association between brain tumours and mobile phones';

  (c)   that the Australian Government, though the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), welcomes the report and considers that the classification by IARC corresponds to the current ARPANSA advice, including its advice on practical ways in which people can reduce their exposure to the electromagnetic fields produced by wireless telephones;

  (d)   that the methods to reduce exposure include:

     (i)   limiting call time,

     (ii)   preferring the use of landline phones,

     (iii)   using hands-free or speaker options,

     (iv)   texting instead of making voice calls, and

     (v)   using phones in good signal areas which reduce power levels for communications; and

  (e)   that ARPANSA has also recommended parents encourage their children to use these methods of reducing exposure.