More 5G tower victories across Australia

Telecommunications giants have been met with further roadblocks in the race towards 5G in Australia, with more regions successfully campaigning to reject future tower proposals.

The Lathlain and Currumbin Valley regions have recently won bids to appeal both tower and mobile base station installations, following on from similar victories in the Sutherland Shire region.

LATHLAIN, WA

A proposed 5G tower in Lathlain, Western Australia has been denied approval after residents voiced their concerns about radiation exposure and visual impact on the surroundings.

The 15-metre Telstra telecommunications tower at 156 Orrong Rd was planned to initially enhance Telstra’s 4G wireless network and to serve as a platform for future 5G services.

Residents surrounding the proposed location were against the potential radiation exposure from 5G technology near their living space at a Town of Victoria Park council meeting last month.

In the meeting, Lathlain GP Chris Chang compared the dangers of 5G installations with smoking, which was not considered dangerous 40 years ago:

“Even though they say it’s safe now, doesn’t mean it’s safe in the future”.

Cr Ronhhda Potter said she didn’t want the residents to end up with something on their doorstep what she wouldn’t want on hers.

“This area within itself is an area that needs some beautifying and I don’t think it needs the addition of an unsightly structure”.

Mayor Trevor Vaughan said he supported the application and reminded the public gallery the applicant could appeal to the State Administrative Tribunal for refusal.

A 2008 application for a 15-metre pole in the same location was refused by the council in 2009.

CURRUMBIN VALLEY, QLD

Across the country, concerned citizens are also fighting back against Telstra’s installation plans.

Last week, a team of Currumbin and Tallebudgera Valley residents also found positive results in the region, after residents won a long-fought battle over a proposal to install a major telecommunications base station at 466 Tallebudgera Connection Rd.

The tower, originally announced by Telstra to be over 36 metres high with 42 antennae, is surrounded by state and locally significant vegetation.

The tower was set to be fixed 150-200 metres from a number of homes, and it would hang over the ridgeline and in a prime koala habitat. 

Through passionate lobbying, residents presented 1024 petition signatures and 539 written objections, to encourage the City of Gold Coast Council Planning Committee to listen to their story. 

In response, the proposals have since been abandoned, after first successfully refusing the proposed development against the planning department’s recommendation to approval the facility:

Residents celebrate after a long-fought victory.
Photo: No 4G, 4GX or future 5G Tower for Currumbin Valley | Facebook

Residents believed that if the 4GX tower was approved, then Telstra would not need any council approval to upgrade it to 5G capabilities, as we have seen in other locations across the country.

BUILDING MOMENTUM

The new victories continue a wave of anti-5G actions that have swept across the country this year.

Protesters in Northern Rivers NSW this year. Photo: Echo.net.au

We recently reported that Sutherland Shire Council has also recently approved an appeal against Telstramounting ‘small cell’ installations on community infrastructure.

A meeting organised by Lilli Pilli residents on Sunday was attended by about 120 people, including a number from other parts of Sydney, where there is also widespread community concern.

Barrister Ray Broomhall and Lyn Mclean, the head of EMR Australia, spoke about residents’ legal rights and health effects from this infrastructure.

Furthermore, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) recently issued Telstra a formal warningfor failing to adhere to rules on deploying mobile phone base stations.

Australians have been fighting back against 5G technology with community action groups that connect like-minded individuals, inform the local area and take action with surrounding councils.

Recently in Melbourne, protesters walked from Flagstaff Gardens to Bourke Street Mall, stopping outside Telstra’s head office in Exhibition Street.

This follows on similar protests in Gosford (Central Coast), Northern Beaches, Perth CBD, Lismore and other locations.

Are we seeing Telstra’s dam walls starting to crack in the race to rollout 5G technology by 2020?

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Dying birds fall from the sky ‘screaming and bleeding from their eyes’ in horrific incident in Australia

Naturally, there is absolutely no mention of a 5G RADIATION assault as the possible culprit or the fact that 5G is being rolled out in Adelaide as we speak.

Almost 60 birds have died in a suspected poisoning in Australia after falling from the sky screaming and bleeding from their eyes and beaks in front of horrified onlookers in a scene “like something out of a horror movie”.

Rescuers called to deal with the calamity said 58 of 60 birds they found, near a school at One Tree Hill near Adelaide, had ultimately died.

The majority of the birds are a native species – the long-billed corella – which is protected.

Sarah King, the founder of Casper’s Bird Rescue, told The Guardian that one of her staff discovered the birds on Wednesday.

“When he got there, he rang me, really distressed, and said there were more than he could handle,” Ms King said. 

"They were literally falling out of the trees in front of him, falling out of the sky.”

She added: “Only two or three were actually deceased. The rest were just screaming on the ground. They couldn’t fly any more, they were bleeding out of their mouths … What we were seeing was something out of a horror movie.”

The organisation said they believed the birds had been the victims of a targeted poisoning. Other types of corellas are considered a pest in Australia, and non-lethal methods of moving them on are suggested by the local council.

But Ms King said the use of poison in this instance was “horrific”, causing a slow and painful death for the birds which could take many days to die in some instances.

It is not the first time large numbers of birds have fallen from the sky in apocalyptic scenes.

In 2011, as many as 5,000 birds fell to the earth on New Year’s eve in Arkansas, with many of them crashing into trees, lampposts and buildings. The phenomenon occurred in the town of Beebe, which had a population of 5,000 – mirroring the number of avian casualties and bringing predictions of bad omens and the end of the world. 

It was thought loud fireworks could have scared the birds to death, or caused them to crash to the ground. The same thing happened in the same town the following year, though the second time just over a hundred birds died.

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Video - What Is 5G Animation - under two minutes

https://youtu.be/ESmIKsTOFto

Australia - electricity customers allowed to have communications on ALREADY-INSTALLED smart meters TURNED OFF

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has made a final rule to allow metering coordinators to deactivate the communications on already-installed smart meters. 

The AEMC’s Competition in Metering Rule, which started in December 2017, stipulates that all new and replacement meters must be an advanced ‘type 4’ meter unless a customer makes a request not to have a type 4 meter at the time a new meter is installed or if there isn’t a telecommunications network in the area to support a type 4 meter. Type 4 meters host wireless communications that emit pulsed radiofrequency radiation in the microwave range 24/7. In instances of customer refusal, an advanced non-communicating meter, known as a type 4A meter, is provided. If instead a customer has an existing ‘working’ meter, and doesn’t require a new meter, opt-out provisions are available.

However, there was no provision in the rule for the meter’s communications to be deactivated if a customer moves into a house or business premise that already has a type 4 meter installed.

The final rule allows metering coordinators, at their discretion, to deactivate the remote communications in response to customer objection. Deactivation may be achieved by a variety of means (for example, cease polling/collection, remote deactivation, or physical removal of the meter’s communication facilities).

Metering coordinators may only accept a request for deactivation if they have evidence that the retailer has advised the customer about upfront charges associated with a type 4A meter and similarities and differences between a type 4 and a type 4A meter.

The Australian Energy Council (AEC), which represents 23 major electricity businesses, requested the rule change. The AEC anticipated that their proposal would “reduce the number of complaints customers make to retailers and jurisdictional ombudsmen, therefore reducing administrative costs whilst simultaneously improving customer’s experience”.

In response, the AEMC concurred that there was a need for a process to deactivate remote communications at the lowest cost. This was in recognition of the fact that “a small cohort of customers holds strong views regarding the use of advanced meter communication at their premises, as stated in AGL and EnergyAustralia’s submissions”.

The AEMC may only make a rule if it is satisfied that the rule will, or is likely to, contribute to the achievement of the national electricity objective (NEO). Although factors to be considered in the NEO include safety and security of supply of electricity, the AEMC’s decision was solely on the basis that allowing deactivation will lead to cost reductions in respect of customers insistent on having a non-communicating meter. 

 The AEC had pointed out that the costs associated with deactivation are three to five times lower than replacing the meter entirely (as well as not requiring an interruption to the customer’s supply of electricity). Prior to this final rule, a meter swap was the only means by which customers moving into premises with an existing communicating smart meter might obtain a type 4A meter. 

The final rule commences on 1 July 2019 in the jurisdictions which have adopted the National Electricity Rules (NER). These jurisdictions are NSW, QLD, SA, Tas and the ACT.

The Northern Territory has only adopted certain parts of the NER which do not include parts related to the final rule. The Competition in Metering Rule does not currently apply in Victoria as a result of Victorian Ministerial Order. Western Australia continues to be subject to a State-based regulatory framework. 

Customers who have a type 4A meter must continue to shop around retailers, if they want to obtain the best deal and avoid being gouged for manual meter reading fees. Although the Australian Energy Regulator sets the maximum fee for manually reading meters, there is NO obligation on retailers to charge this fee.

SSMA commends the AEC for proposing this rule and the AEMC for overseeing its formulation. This final rule represents a step in the right direction. However, when one takes into account safety and security of supply issues, SSMA considers that the NEO would be better served by eliminating wireless transmissions from ALL meters.

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Mobiles have Aussies hooked

MOBILES HAVE AUSSIES HOOKED

By Sam Wallis

Posted Sat Jul 14, 2007 8:13am AEST
Updated Sat Jul 14, 2007 8:19am AEST

Research suggests mobile phone addiction could be the new psychological disorder of the 21st century. (AAP: Julian Smith)

An estimated 94 per cent of Australians own a mobile phone, and for some, it is their most treasured gadget.

The mobile phone boom has fascinated sociologists who for years have been warning of the potential of mobile phones to change the way we interact.

Now there is evidence that mobile phones have thousands of Australians hooked.

Research presented at the 2007 Mobile Media Conference by Shari Walsh, from the Queensland University of Technology, suggests mobile phone addiction could be the new psychological disorder of the 21st century.

She has conducted focus groups and surveyed about 500 mobile phone users, finding the length of time a person spends on the phone does not necessarily mean they are addicted to it.

"It all depends on whether or not they have negative outcomes, so whether they have a distress when they're unable to use their phone, whether there are times that they should be doing something else like driving for instance, but have such a strong conviction to use their phone that they'll actually use the phone while driving, even though they know they shouldn't," she said.

Ms Walsh says people do not get addicted to phones, it is more likely they get addicted to being connected to other people.

"The question is really whether young people particularly are addicted to being connected to other people all the time, so do they need this constant sense of connection with other people or are they actually addicted to a mobile phone," she said.

"At the moment, I don't think we know the answer to that."

'Almost an amputation'

Clinical psychologist and family therapist Andrew Fuller has a keen interest in the mobile phone addiction phenomenon.

"Many of the young people that I work with would - it would almost be an amputation being without their mobile phones, it's remarkable," he said.

Mr Fuller says mobile phone addiction also contributes to depression.

"Mobile phone usage alters sleep patterns... it lessens the time between falling asleep and the onset of the first dream," he said.

"We're not quite sure really exactly what this means, except to say that we only see that pattern of sleep in one other population, and that's depressed in-patients."

It is not just the addicts themselves who are affected by their mobile phone addiction. Mr Fuller says mobiles reduce the amount of face to face contact people have, which leads to less meaningful relationships.

"We see a lessening in sympathy and trust and empathy - the things that basically bind together, if you like, a civilised society," he said.

Ms Walsh says, like gambling or drug addicts, problem mobile users can easily lose track of their costs.

That means teenagers are finding themselves in debt before they finish school.

"The difficulty is that if people are addicted to the phone or to being connected and they can't turn it off, they're not able to give themselves the quiet time we all need and that's to me when it would become a problem," she said.