Australians set to rally against 5G technology

Posted on June 18, 2019 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Australians are fighting back against 5G technology, with local community action groups scheduling a number of rallies and forums over the next fortnight to oppose the 5G roll out.

MELBOURNE (22/06): Facebook.com/events/2241384295938977

PERTH (22/06): Facebook.com/events/335613783780602

BRISBANE (22/06): Facebook.com/events/454428418687949

HERVEY BAY (22/06): Facebook.com/events/2425434864391800

NEWCASTLE FORUM (29/06): Facebook.com/events/529536381207544

SYDNEY (30/06): Facebook.com/events/394070734652428

SUNSHINE COAST (02/07): Facebook.com/events/2147687165359802

BRISBANE FORUM (07/07): Eventbrite.com.au/e/5G-Healthsymposium

For each area there will only be ONE opportunity to make an impact.  The rallies need as many people as possible to turn up. Ask your friends, family and work colleagues to come along.
Dress Code is a red T-shirt.
See below fliers/posters you can print to display and/or give out on the day, and a copy of a Melbourne-specific flier promoting the Melbourne event.
Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

The WHO cover-up on the truth about wireless radiation

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Author, former World Health Organization (WHO) staffer and brain-tumour survivor, Olga Sheean, has launched a video on WHO’s cover-up of the truth about wireless radiation.

In early 2017, SSMA covered Sheean’s earlier call to WHO for action and accountability.  WHO did not reply.

Sheean once again points out in The WHO cover-up that is costing us the Earth the gross failings of WHO’s International EMF Project, a unit which instead of promoting the development of safe standards, is “deliberately hiding the truth, misinforming the public and devising utterly meaningless safety standards based on unfounded science”.  Little wonder, when one considers that it is “also receiving funds from – and is staffed by personnel who have worked for – the very industry from which it is meant to protect us”.

With the advent of 5G, the stakes have dramatically escalated.  Defying all logic, “WHO is actively facilitating the global deployment of 5G”.  Instead of tightening exposure limits, “WHO is collaborating with ICNIRP – the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection – to relax its already dangerously inadequate standards”.  ICNIRP is the body that the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has chosen to blindly follow; the Australian standard for radiofrequencies is based on ICNIRP’s 1998 Guidelines.

Sheean implores all of us to stop supporting the industry that is harming us.  The planned launch of over 20,000 5G satellites in the coming two years “will be more than our bodies can handle”.  She points out that industry or governments have no motivation to change direction unless we reduce the demand for harmful wireless technologies.  Sheean states that “We must hold ourselves accountable for our choices and we must hold decision-makers responsible for their cover-up of the truth”.

You can view “The WHO cover-up that is costing us the Earth”, and access a full transcript of the video and references, at https://www.emfoff.com/cover-up/

Posted in wireless radiation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

An Open Letter To ARPANSA In Response To Their Media Statement

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Recently the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) – the Australian Government body responsible for the standards and guidelines regulating the rollout for 5G in Australia – published Misinformation about Australia’s 5G network.

(To publish such a statement, ARPANSA must be feeling the heat from community backlash and the growing volume of evidence delineating the negative biological and health effects of electromagnetic radiation.)

In response to the ARPANSA statement, an Open Letter to ARPANSA concludes with Professor Martin Pall’s summarisation that:

“With 100% consistency, ARPANSA avoids all of the strongest available science in this area.

With 100% consistency, ARPANSA has produced a stunningly biased document, whose positions are repeatedly and consistently contradicted by the strongest science and by large numbers of independent scientists.

With 100% consistency, ARPANSA has failed to protect the health and safety of the people of Australia.

With 100% consistency, ARPANSA has protected the economic interests of the telecommunications industry.”

A copy of the Open Letter refuting ARPANSA’s dubious claims can be found at: An Open Letter To ARPANSA In Response To Their Press Statement

 

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Petition | Ban the 5G network in Australia

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Dear Minister please ensure that 5G technology is thoroughly and independently tested for potential long-term adverse health effects before it is rolled out in Australia. The health effect issue of 5G is potentially very controversial as the communications industry is massive and 5G technology will be quite pervasive, but its long-term health effects on humans are largely unknown.

Why is this important?

Thorough and independent testing of 5G technology is crucial before this technology is rolled out in Australia. Current safety limits are insufficient. Apart from the genuine threat of it being carcinogenic, there are numerous health ailments suspected to be caused by exposure to radiation emitted by 5G transmitters. Health is more important than having a faster Internet.

There is currently an overwhelming amount of support to ban 5G due to similar concerns, not only from doctors and scientists, but in far greater numbers from people who have been injured by their mobile phones or by mobile phone towers, and from the general public. More than 350 environmental and health organisations and 13,000 individuals from all walks of life, from at least 96 countries, have just signed but one petition I know of out of which is amongst thousands of petitions that are currently running to stop 5G also. (www.5gSpaceAppeal.org/signatories is where you will find these particular signatories.)

The 5G dilemma continues

Even though 5G network will provide a much faster connection than 4G, a section of health experts believes that the hazards which may be caused by the updated service are unknown, and sometimes it may turn potentially dangerous.

It should be noted that various research conducted on mobile phone radiations have fetched mixed results. Even though many studies have ruled out the possibility of health hazards due to mobile phone radiation exposure, some extensive studies have hinted that older wireless service generations may result in various types of cancers, heart disorders, and reproductive issues. However, the health hazards which may arise due to short radiations of 5G is hardly been studied.

5G connection makes use of millimetre waves (MMWs) to transmit data, rather than microwaves which are being used in previous generation networks.

Putting the entire globe at risk?

Dr Joel M. Moskowitz PhD ( http://sph.berkeley.edu/joel-moskowitz ), a public health professor at the University of California, Berkeley reveals that millimetre waves could pose serious health hazards among the general public. In an exclusive talk with Daily Mail Online, Joel Moskowitz revealed that the fifth generation cellular technology is experimenting on the health of all species on our planet.

“The deployment of 5G, or fifth generation cellular technology, constitutes a massive experiment on the health of all species. Since skin contains capillaries and nerve endings, MMW bio-effects may be transmitted through molecular mechanisms by the skin or through the nervous system. 5G will use high-band frequencies, or millimetre waves, that may affect the eyes, the testes, the skin, the peripheral nervous system, and sweat glands,” told Moskowitz to Daily Mail Online.

The health expert also added that millimetre waves used in 5G networks will make many pathogens resistant to antibiotics.

Please support this petition if you care.

To view the full petition and sign, go to https://www.change.org/p/greg-hunt-ban-the-5g-network-in-australia

Posted in 5G | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life

Posted on May 19, 2019 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Activist, author and researcher, Arthur Firstenberg, writes in The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life with devastating honesty about the unfolding human rights and environmental emergency unleashed as a result of our deadly embrace of electrical technology.

Spanning humans’ initial foray into harnessing electricity, through to our microwave-fuelled leap into the abyss, this book is a tour de force.  By turns riveting, confronting, yet remaining rigorously scientific, The Invisible Rainbow, to quote renowned environmental health expert Prof David O. Carpenter MD, PhD, is a ‘remarkable contribution’ and one that is ‘easily readable and provocative while being entertaining’.

The Invisible Rainbow is available from the Cellular Phone Task Force’s website at:  https://www.cellphonetaskforce.org/buy-the-invisible-rainbow/  For orders outside of the U.S. and Canada, go to the Add to Cart button towards the top of the webpage.

The Invisible Rainbow is a hardcover book weighing in at a hefty 918 grams so it is worthwhile investigating the shipping cost prior to purchasing.  This can be done online by choosing the country followed by the shipping method after following the links to the PayPal Guest Checkout page.  As shipping costs are calculated by order (up to 10 copies), ordering multiple copies brings down the individual price per book.  So it might be worthwhile to team up with a few friends and order multiple copies!

Proceeds from sales of The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life are the main source of funding driving the International Appeal to Stop 5G on Earth and in Space campaign.  Although the Appeal stands on its own, Firstenberg’s book provides us with the larger historical and scientific picture.

Posted in EMR | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Health Australia Party policy on EMR

Posted on May 15, 2019 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

SSMA and its members have approached a number of political parties in an effort to secure policies that reduce public exposure to the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR).

It seems that for the forthcoming Federal election on 18th May, the Health Australia Party (HAP) is the only party to have a policy on EMR – and a very good one at that!

If you haven’t yet cast your vote, you might like to review the HAP’s EMR Pollution policy.  This is articulated in code 3.3.1 of the HAP Full Policies document available on this webpage.

The current version of the policy states that:

“The HAP supports the following initiatives which are needed due to the changing electromagnetic environment in which we live.

(a) Adopting the precautionary approach regarding exposure to electromagnetic fields;

(b) Designing, building and wiring buildings so as to reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields;

(c) Requiring new radiation-emitting technologies, including 5G, to be demonstrated to be safe for all members of society before their introduction to the market/rollout across Australia;

(d) Requiring the Australian standard for radiation protection (RPS3) to be updated to accommodate new research showing harmful biological effects of non-heating levels of exposure;

(e) Requiring an Australian standard for power frequency electromagnetic fields that reduces public exposure to the 4 mG associated with the doubling of childhood leukemia and classified as a Class 2B carcinogen (current exposure level is 2000 mG);

(f) Requiring all radiation-emitting devices to carry the notice: ‘This device emits radiofrequency radiation. Use with caution’;

(g) Requiring all research be undertaken by independent researchers;

(h) A public education campaign informing people about safer technology use.”

The HAP also released an ‘Official Statement on Electromagnetic Radiation & 5G’ on 27th April 2019.  The link for the document is: https://www.healthaustraliaparty.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/HAP-official-statement-on-EMR-April-27-2019.pdf

The Health Australia Party is indeed worthy of your number 1 vote in the Senate.

Posted in Electromagnetic radiation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

“Self-serving nonsense”: Why smart meters and the energy industry failed Australia

Posted on May 5, 2019 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Gavin Dietz, “energy insider” and global executive of Landis+Gyr; the world’s largest manufacturer of smart meters, writes:

“…in reality, smart meters have failed hugely to deliver on the perceived promise that accompanied their global promotion and rollout in the early-2000s and since.

Today it’s become common to hear so-called ‘smart meters’ being condemned for actually being ‘dumb’. In the age of the smartphone, they are a clunky reminder of a bygone tech era.

Early notions that smart meters would be used as a key enabler for emissions reductions through energy efficiency and renewable energy have faded. They’ve actually been a bit player, at best, when compared to the transformative success of solar photovoltaics, wind farm technologies, energy efficiency programs, and low-emission products such as LED lighting systems.

In fact, depressingly, they mainly are being used to prolong the old energy order, protecting legacy energy companies and metering manufacturers alike, and keeping business and household electricity consumers at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to the power of data.

The consumer-empowering marvel of the internet era has been blocked when it comes to the electricity sector, because, even if consumers officially own their smart meter data — which they do — they can’t control it nor even access it in useful and timely ways.

This isn’t how it was meant to be. At least, it isn’t how the people I worked with in the mid-2000s anticipated the smart meter story unfolding.

As the Australian-based investment group Bayard Capital, we went around the world buying up 14 smart meter manufacturers, rolled them all up into Landis+Gyr, then ultimately sold the lot to Japan’s Toshiba in 2011 for a successful exit valued at $US2.3 billion.

We also promoted smart meter rollouts for Australia, and globally, including seeing tens of millions installed in post-global financial crisis America to help to stimulate the economy; and nearly three million across Victoria – a mandatory rollout that many came to see as an expensive debacle, which killed off any plans for the whole nation to do the same.”

Abridged from: https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/energy-resources/smart-meters-failed-australians/

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The controversary over 5G is examined in a new paper by Don Maisch PhD

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

In his recent paper, Are community concerns over the 5G network rollout based on unfounded anxiety or valid evidence?, Don Maisch PhD writes “The high number of small cells needed for an effective 5G network is causing community disquiet and that, combined with many scientific unknowns about the possible biological effects of prolonged exposure to mm waves, is resulting in increasing community opposition in Australia and internationally”.

In addition to referring to Australian reports regarding the increasing concern about 5G, Maisch gives a sampler of growing international opposition to 5G network rollouts:

In 2017 an international 5G Appeal was launched by scientists and doctors who are calling for the EU to halt the roll out of 5G due to serious potential health effects from the technology. As of April 24, 2019, 231 scientists and medical doctors have signed the appeal.[i]

March 24, 2019: Portland Oregon city officials in the US stated their opposition to the installation of 5G networks around the city, supported by the mayor and two commissioners. The city officials considered that 5G health risks were not well enough understood to warrant installations.[ii]

March 28, 2019: Florence, Italy, applied the precautionary principle by refusing permission for 5G infrastructure and referring to “the ambiguity and the uncertainty of supranational bodies and private bodies (like ICNIRP)”, which “have very different positions from each other, despite the huge evidence of published studies”.[iii]

March 28, 2019: The Roman district “XII Municipality of Rome” voted against allowing 5G trials, with other districts expected to follow. Other motions to stop 5G are expected in the four regional councils, one provincial council and other municipal councils of Italy.[iv]

April 1, 2019: Plans for a pilot project to provide high-speed 5G wireless internet in Brussels have been halted due to fears for the health of citizens. Environment Minister Céline Fremault said that “The people of Brussels are not guinea pigs whose health I can sell at a profit. We cannot leave anything to doubt”.[v]

April 4, 2019: The House of Representatives of the Netherlands expressed its concern over the possible health risks of radiation from the new 5G network. Political parties want to know as a matter of urgency what the dangers are before 5G is rolled out on a large scale.[vi]

April 5, 2019: The California Supreme Court Justices unanimously upheld a 2011 San Francisco ordinance requiring telecommunications companies to get permits before placing small cell antennas on city infrastructure.[vii]

April 8, 2019: A petition asking the German Parliament to stop the award of 5G frequencies has reached 54,643 signatures, surpassing the quorum, according to an environmental campaign group called ‘Diagnose: Funk’. The German Parliament may decide to suspend the procedure to award 5G frequencies based on “scientifically justified doubts about the safety of this technology”, according to the petition.[viii]

April 9, 2019: Switzerland’s 3rd largest region, Canton of Vaud, adopted a resolution calling for a moratorium on 5G antennas until the publication of a report on 5G by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment.[ix] Other cantons may follow with further moratoriums.[x]

April 11, 2019: Geneva adopted a motion for a moratorium on 5G, calling on the Council of State to request WHO to monitor independent scientific studies to determine any possible harmful effects of 5G.[xi]

April 20, 2019: Switzerland announced that it will monitor 5G health risks as a result of a pushback from citizens who claim that 5G emissions present dire health risks.[xii] Four cantons have now stopped 5G networks, Jura, Geneva, Vaud and Neuchâtel. Comprising 1.5 million people. However, the majority state-owned Swisscom defied these cantons by activating 5G stations in 102 locations by upgrading existing antennas installed for previous generations of wireless technology.[xiii],[xiv]

In part Maisch concludes: The assurances of a complete absence of risk from 5G networks coming from these experts is not reflected in what is known about the many uncertainties which exist with 5G technology and speaks more about their own ignorance than that of concerned communities.

To read this informative paper in full along with its concluding thoughts, go to: https://www.emfacts.com/download/26April_5G_concerns_paper.pdf

 

References Continue reading →

Posted in 5G | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Victoria’s Minister for Water evades questions about smart water meters

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Stop Smart Meters Australia (SSMA) raised concerns last year about the rollout of smart water meters in Victoria in a letter to the Hon Lisa Neville, Minister for Water.  SSMA also posed a number of questions, on behalf of members and followers, to the Minister.

The Minister asked an Executive Director at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) to reply on her behalf.  The response was emailed to SSMA on the eve of the 2018 Victorian State election.

The government’s reply fails to explain its role in the rollout of water smart meters, other than to state that “Victorian Government approval is required prior to any broad introduction of new digital water metering technology” and that the “Victorian Government is regularly briefed on the progress of digital meter trials, including customer feedback and business case considerations”.

This hands-off approach appears to be another case of déjà vu for long-suffering Victorian utility customers.

If the government had done its due diligence in the first place, Victorians would NEVER have been subjected to the mandated rollout of electricity smart meters to every household and small business. The cost-benefit justification for the rollout of electricity smart meters turned out to be little more than a Victorian Labor Government thought bubble.

Instead, Victorians have been burdened with increased costs as a result of the transition to electricity smart meters.  As reported in Deloitte’s 2011 report titled Advanced metering infrastructure cost benefit analysis, “Over 2008-28, the Victorian AMI Program will result in net costs to customers of $319 million [in 2008 dollars]”.  SSMA asks how much greater would these net costs be if the impact of adverse health effects arising from the rollout of smart meters were included?  And how much more would the net costs be if the benefits which were supposed to accrue as a result of the rollout (and, often, didn’t!) were to be revisited and verified?

The Victorian Auditor-General’s 2009 report slammed the government department overseeing Victoria’s ill-fated multibillion-dollar rollout of smart meters.  The report stated that “Given the significant uncertainty about the cost of AMI [advanced metering infrastructure] to both industry and consumers, as well as the nature and scale of the market intervention, the project always warranted much stronger departmental governance and central oversight”.

Are Victorians now to have water smart meters foisted upon them again as a result of a lack of adequate government oversight?  Worryingly, if we wanted more information, SSMA was referred to a person listed as being an employee at one of the water corporations. Is this another case of the Victorian Labor Government being asleep at the wheel?

View SSMA’s letter to the Minister for Water, and the questions that we posed, here.
View the government’s response here.

Please note, at the request of the government, its response has been redacted. Specifically, the government, in a reply sent on Christmas Eve in response to an email from SSMA asking permission to publish its letter, stated “Please remove all personal details in the letter including all names, position titles and signatures before any [sic] publishing it on your website”.

Previous posts that SSMA has done on the rollout of water smart meters include:
Look out Victorian water customers – your utility may be rolling out smart meters!
Water authorities rolling out wireless smart meters!
Smart water meter “trials” have commenced!

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

NSW, QLD, SA, Tas and ACT electricity customers allowed to have communications on ALREADY-INSTALLED smart meters TURNED OFF

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

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.   

For previous posts on this issue, see:

Residents of NSW, QLD, SA, Tas and ACT: It’s time to say NO!

Victoria delays implementation of national arrangements for metering competition

Power distributors advocate optional smart meters in Victoria – But will the Victorian Labor Government listen?

 Smart meters by stealth

Posted in Smart Meter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments