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Local 5G protest still live and wired

 

 

BY JULIA WADE

thumbnail 03 MF-5Gprotest1-565Despite a local petition which gained national attention and featured on TV One’s Seven Sharp not able to be supported by local council, the fight against the controversial ultrafast 5G technology being rolled-out across Kaipara continues.

Since June 2019, over 2000 people have signed the ‘Stop 5G in Mangawhai’ online petition, initiated by local architectural draftsperson Lis Martinac, and supporters also recently took to the streets for the international ‘Global 5G Free’ protest day on January 25.

A number of rallies took place nationwide with Martinac co-organising Whangarei’s event which began in Water Street and ended outside The Strand arcade’s Vodafone shop. She says the march was a peaceful way to create further awareness and unity, ‘for our collective voices to be heard’.

“Our rally in Whangarei was fantastic!” she says. “Locals showed up from both Mangawhai and Whangarei to show our solidarity with our global family. Many made brilliant signs, we sang a ‘5G free’ song as we walked, flyers and stickers were handed out to the public with many people wanting to learn more. We also had an extremely knowledgeable speaker who shared important information about 5G. Together we created a powerful and positive vibe... we’re very happy and grateful for the turn out, both local and worldwide.”

In September 2019 Martinac presented the petition to Kaipara District Council (KDC) in the hope council could forestall the implementation of the fifth generation cellular phone technology within the district until more was known regarding possible health and safety effects. However, after investigating their legal jurisdiction involving 5G, KDC state they have no authority to draft rules regarding the setting up of the tech, saying central government is the legal authority responsible for the installation of 5G technology, and recommend Martinac submit the petition to the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and the Ministry for the Environment.

“Which I had previously done with little to no acknowledgement of our concerns from them, just a copy and paste standard reply which didn’t answer any questions,” she says. “It’s difficult to get anything past the minister’s secretaries which was why we were hoping our council would assist us… unfortunately Kaipara Council has decided not to act as the voice for our community.”

‘Moving forward’ the mother of three is continuing the fight, retaining regular communication with scientists, lawyers and ‘other determined 5G Free community leaders’ to keep informed with up-to-date information and to discuss strategy and ‘our best line of action’. A legal challenge has also been launched to halt the planned roll out of the tech, with NZ community and environmental rights lawyer Sue Grey, who spoke

about corporate interest overruling public interest at the 5G community meeting last September and co-leader of ‘NZ Outdoors Party’, taking on the case.

“We are currently raising money to take the government and telcos to court. We believe a moratorium should be put in place until we know more about the health effects,” she says. “We ultimately need ‘people power’ for our collective voices to be heard, and thankfully, awareness and concern about the harmful effects of 5G is growing quickly both nationally and globally.”

¢ Interested in donating? Visit givealittle.co.nz/cause/support-a-legal-challange-against-5g-cell-tower

 

Anti-5G protestors march down Auckland City’s Queen Street, an example of the many rallies which occurred around the country on the official January 25 5G protest day. Protesters hold concerns regarding the potential threat to people’s wellbeing and the environment from the ultrafast technology.

“Together we created a powerful and positive vibe...”


 
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