{"id":329055,"date":"2023-02-21T19:14:33","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T09:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=329055"},"modified":"2023-02-21T19:21:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T09:21:01","slug":"locals-rally-in-the-rain-against-5g","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/02\/21\/locals-rally-in-the-rain-against-5g\/","title":{"rendered":"Locals Rally In The Rain Against 5G"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rally organiser Michelle Anderson, centre, addresses the crowd while Mayor Brett Otto watches on<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

February 21, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

About 60 people braved the rain on Tuesday evening in Kingaroy to rally against a proposed Telstra 5G mobile phone tower planned to be erected at the South Burnett Pistol Club.<\/p>\n

The hour-long rally, organised by local resident Michelle Anderson, was also attended by South Burnett Mayor Brett Otto, Deputy Mayor Gavin Jones, councillors Kathy Duff and Jane Erkens and SBRC General Manager Peter O’May.<\/p>\n

Michelle has become well-known over the past few years for her community activism, including promoting the “end all mandates” freedom rallies in Kingaroy’s Memorial Park.<\/p>\n

Tuesday’s event was chaired by another local resident, John Holden.<\/p>\n

He said the government was trying to make every community “conform”.<\/p>\n

Several guest speakers addressed the crowd, expressing their fears about the alleged health risks from the proposed tower, ranging from eye “floaters”, stomach upsets and back aches to cancer and childhood leukaemia.<\/p>\n

Michelle said she “did not consent” to the exposure of herself and her family to electromagnetic radiation in her home.<\/p>\n

She claimed this exposure, and the threat of exposure, was “assault” and the councillors and South Burnett Pistol Club members would be held liable for the consequences.<\/p>\n

The rally heard this was the last opportunity to convince councillors to vote against the proposed 5G tower.<\/p>\n

A recommendation from Council officers that the development be approved, subject to certain conditions, will be put to Wednesday’s Council meeting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mayor Otto told the crowd that councillors did not have to accept the Council officers’ recommendation, and he invited concerned residents to attend the meeting, either in person or via livestream.<\/p>\n

According to the Radio Frequency National Site Archive website, the South Burnett already houses an Optus 5G tower, at Quarry Road, Memerambi. More proposed sites include Lewis-Duff Road, Ballogie (Optus) and Reservoir Street, Kingaroy (Telstra).<\/p>\n

The technology, which promises higher peak data speeds, low latency and increased network capacity, is not new in Queensland. There are multiple 5G sites across the State, including in Brisbane, Logan City, the Gold Coast, Caboolture, Ipswich, Toowoomba and Warwick.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organisation has stated that “despite extensive research, to date there is no evidence to conclude that exposure to low level electromagnetic fields is harmful to human health”.<\/p>\n