6. SUE KEDGLEY (Green) Link to this
to the Minister for the Environment
Does he think the public should be consulted about the location of cellphone towers in their community before they are put up?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) Link to this
The Minister is advised that if a proposal does not comply with the National Environmental Standards for Telecommunications Facilities, then public consultation is required. It is good practice to consult, and that is encouraged by the Ministry for the Environment’s guidelines.
Does he think it is fair and democratic that cellphone masts, and other equipment, can be put up on telephone poles right next to people’s homes, schools, play schools, and playcentres, as of right, without any consultation or consent, as is happening in Eastbourne, New Plymouth, Manukau, Nelson, Auckland, and elsewhere around New Zealand; if so, why?
If a proposal complies with the National Environmental Standards for Telecommunications Facilities, then public consultation is not required.
Is he aware that the decision to allow cellphone masts, and other antennae, and so forth, to be constructed on telephone poles in the community, without any consultation, even though they will inevitably lower the property values of nearby homes and may affect people’s health, is causing distress, anger, and protests around New Zealand; and will he therefore urgently review the national environmental standards so that telecommunications companies are required to consult local residents before constructing cellphone masts next to people’s homes, schools, and preschools?
As I said earlier, it is good practice to consult, and certainly the Ministry for the Environment’s guidelines indicate that consultation is best practice. The Minister and the Minister of Health are advised that there is an inter-agency committee that reports to them if there is reasonable suspicion of health hazards associated with radio frequencies. To date, the committee has advised that recent research programmes have found no evidence to confirm suggestions that there may be health effects from exposure to levels of radio frequency that are well below those allowed in New Zealand.
Is he and his colleague the Minister of Health aware of recent international research that suggests that electromagnetic radiation may affect people’s health, even at low, chronic levels of exposure, way below that which is permitted by the New Zealand standards, and does he agree that we should therefore be taking a precautionary approach and keeping cellphone towers and masts at a reasonable distance from homes, schools, and playcentres?
New Zealand does take a precautionary approach already, and New Zealand cellphone towers emit around 1 percent of what is deemed a safe level.
Is he aware that according to the Howick Times the Prime Minister told the Mayor of Manukau, Len Brown, that he would recommend to Cabinet a review of the National Environmental Standards for Telecommunications Facilities, particularly the lack of consultation; and can he tell me how far the Prime Minister’s review has progressed?
The Howick Times is not on my reading list currently, but I have no reason to believe that it is not a timely and suitable—
Hon Maurice WilliamsonIt is the Howick and Pakuranga Times, apparently. Yes, I have actually read the Howick and Pakuranga Times from time to time. What I can say is that it is good practice for telecommunications companies to consult, and that is certainly the indication given by the Ministry for the Environment.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I asked a very specific question about how far the Prime Minister’s review had progressed and I would be grateful if he could seek to address that question.
Mr SPEAKERI appreciate the honourable member’s point, but had she just asked that, it might have been easier to extract an answer. If the member reflects back, she will find she asked a whole lot more prior to that part of the question, and the Minister focused on the other part of the supplementary question.
I seek leave to table a number of documents relating to my question. The first is a transcript of an item on One News last night where an Auckland resident, Rowan Hegley, was blocking access to a power pole outside his house in protest—
The honourable member obviously could not have been in the House during my ruling earlier today. I made it very clear that seeking leave to table recent media articles is not supported. However, if she is seeking such leave, then I will put the leave. Leave is sought to table that media article from yesterday. Is there an objection? There is objection.
In this case, I seek leave to table an email, a copy of which was sent to me from Fiona Jeffcoat-Yu, who pointed out that she has eight cellphone antennae next to her home, that she is worried for her child, and that there are plans for an additional three—
I seek leave to table another email. This one is from Paul Minchin of New Plymouth, pointing out that Vodafone New Zealand is about to erect a tower in his neighbourhood in New Plymouth. It will be right in a residential neighbourhood and surrounded by hundreds of houses.
I seek leave to table an email from Sarah Wild, inviting me to a public meeting in Point Chevalier to protest the erection of a cellphone tower right outside several homes in Point Chevalier.
Leave is sought to table an invitation to the member to attend a protest meeting. Is there any objection to that being tabled? There is objection.
I seek leave to table another document. It is from Jeremy Lovell-Smith of Eastbourne. He is protesting the fact that Vodafone New Zealand is about to construct a cellphone tower across the road from his family’s house without their consent.
Finally, I seek leave to table the BioInitiative Report by a working-group of international scientists, who conclude that the existing standards for public safety around electromagnetic radiation are inadequate to protect public health.