John Madigan (Victoria, Democratic Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Whilst I agree in principle with having a central location, my concerns with the bill relate to ARPANSA. I have had many people from Victoria come to me in my office and I have had many calls from across Australia regarding ARPANSA's accountability for and policing of mobile phone towers, EMR and other issues. I would be very keen to hear where the checks and balances are, that the accountability, policing and security of the facility will be handled properly and that we in the parliament can be assured that people's health et cetera will be covered. Some people have expressed to me a concern that when they express their concern to ARPANSA they are somewhat flippant. As I said, as much as I am concerned, in principle I am in support of the bill but want to be sure that the safeguards are in place to protect people. One of the Greens senators mentioned that there are facilities. I do not want to see a situation where we have short-term gain and long-term pain or question marks through the community. If something does go wrong or if there are concerns, I would like to see that they are addressed with the full weight of government behind them.