On 24 January this year Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendon Murphy made a statement about 5G which he addressed to the ‘general public’. It is currently available on the Australian Governments Department of Health website. He said:
I’d like to reassure the community that 5G technology is safe. There is no evidence telecommunication technologies, such as 5G, cause adverse health impacts. This position is supported by health authorities in Australia—such as the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) …[1]
There is a lot that could be said about this Clayton’s assurance. Professor Murphy is not an authority in the fields variously known as electromagnetic energy (EME), electromagnetic radiation (EMR), electromagnetic fields (EMFs) or Electro(magnetic) Hypersensitivity (EHS). While Professor Murphy may be an authority in the field of nephrology (kidney diseases), he is not a researcher or practitioner in the field of electromagnetic radiation. While he may be a very intelligent man—and a person of goodwill—he cannot assure us out of his own knowledge that ‘the radio waves to which the general public is exposed from telecommunications are not hazardous to human health.’
Like most of us, Professor Murphy trusts the information which comes out of ARPANSA—which does not even trust its own information—for their Disclaimer is wisely far less confident than the Chief Medical Officer’s blithe assurance:
ARPANSA cannot guarantee, and assumes no legal liability or responsibility for, the relevance, accuracy, currency or completeness of the information.[2]
WATCH DOG OR SLOTH
We should be able to trust the wise sage peak bodies which are appointed to represent the interests of consumers at a national level. I once trusted ARPANSA as the alert watchdog of the telecommunication industry. Now I, and many others who have researched the issue, feel the need to make sure that they do their job, and do not allow the profit motive of the big wireless companies to leapfrog over public health and safety issues. For it appears to me that our watch dog has morphed into a sleeping sloth, thus allowing much leapfrogging to take place—and public health to be compromised.
Harsh words. Perhaps unfair. I still hope for a change in position. However, it has become increasing clear to those of us who have investigated this subject rigorously, that our regulatory peak body has ignored significant scientific papers regarding non-ionising radiation (NIR), which—given the time to study them—may well have changed the mind of our Chief Medical Officer who was relying on correct and reliable information. However, time has been in short supply for Professor Murphy as he tackles another major issue. At least ARPANSA should have made a statement correcting the Chief Medical Officer, who clearly overstepped even ARPANSA’s own findings.[3]
ARPANSA’s disclaimer is what can be called a fine-print issue. However, the statement of assurance from Australia’s Chief Medical Officer is a headline issue for all of us. Professor Murphy is understandably trusted by most of our doctors, who in turn reassure their patients that there is nothing to worry about. It is understandable that an Australian general practitioner would quote their wise sage colleague-superior, especially when they are in the midst of the current Covid19 situation—which appears to be far more important.
CURRENT RESEARCH
There are an increasing number of people interested in the field of EMR who are pointing to the many peer reviewed research papers. And this is the basis of the world-wide concern about the deployment of 5G. Well over a thousand studies have been made on this subject.[4] This research reveals that people such as Australia’s Chief Medical Officer should be more cautious before giving such hollow assurances to the public.
It is quite problematic for an ordinary citizen to ‘come out’ and speak about this issue, for I know little about electromagnetism myself. However, I do know—through the study of research methods—the kind of researchers who can be trusted. The research website, The Environmental Health Trust, started by Dr Devra Davis (who was part of a Nobel Prize winning team), contains information and links to research which ARPANSA (and Professor Murphy) must have missed. It is hard not to suspect that ARPANSA decided such research papers did not fit the current forward-moving agenda of the industry they are supposed to scrutinise, advise, and regulate as public servants. Dr Davis and the EHTrust publish independent research. Earlier in her life, Dr Davis was involved in stopping smoking in aeroplanes. If you take one action as a result of reading this, let it be spending some time browsing her website.[5]
FOOLISH RAGERS AND WISE SAGES
The challenge of speaking out becomes particularly difficult when anxious people recognise that our peak-body wise sages are not acknowledging real dangers. It is almost inevitable that some people will become angry at what they see as a dereliction of duty and a corrupt alliance between our Government and the ‘Big Wireless Telcos’. Some people will do unconscionable things when they feel they are not being listened to. Such actions taint the peaceful and reasoned arguments of those who simply point out research which is contrary to the government-endorsed narrative about this 5th Generation technology, and encourage Councils, State and Federal Government representatives to pause and consider before allowing the Telcos to deploy 5G.
Recently, foolish rage has led to significant damage of telecommunication equipment in various parts of the world—including an Adelaide suburb.[6] This makes talking about the dangers of 5G more difficult. It is all too easy for an onlooker to take the position that any dissent about the 5G rollout is connected to such vandalism. This is emphatically not the case. The focus of our argument is to place a peaceful 5 year pause on 5G until significant testing has been undertaken to prove it is safe. If it isn’t we will have saved our children and grandchildren from potential harm. For me this is a ‘no-brainer’. Health of my grandchildren is more important than faster download speed.
NO 5G TESTING AT ALL!
How can we be assured by Professor Murphy that this new technology is safe without the kind of testing that any new drug would undergo through the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The fact is that no safety testing has yet been undertaken regarding the effects of 5G either in Australia or the USA.[7] Testing is no doubt underway via independent research bodies, but it will take a few years before it is completed and published. By then 5G will have become endemic. While there is already an International Appeal to Stop 5G on Earth and in Space,[8] there also needs to be a national and local issue.
In Australia, the question needs to be asked: ‘Is ARPANSA pandering to the telecommunication companies?’ The Telcos are understandably profit-motivated and go-ahead—that is what big business does. However, ARPANSA, our safety-motivated go-slow regulatory ‘watch dog’, is as previously discussed, not checking this new technology appropriately. It is hard not to reach this conclusion when one considers the research which strongly suggests that there are major problems with the way society is using electromagnetic frequency technologies—especially the latest 4th and 5th Generations of mobile phone technology.[9]
Important cases against government bodies such as the Federal Communication Commission are taking place. The FCC is United States’ version of ARPANSA, and it too uses the 25 year old obsolete “health guideline” testing—but these are being challenged by scientists and lawyers and groups of citizens.[10] A five year pause on 5G in Australia is not unreasonable. It is the trading of health risks for faster wireless download-speed which is unreasonable.
By Dr. Stephen J Carthew scarthew47@gmail.com Box 447 BRIGHTON, SA 5048.
[1]Statement from Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy https://www.health.gov.au/news/safety-of-5g-technology
[2] From ARPANSA’s disclaimer at https://www.arpansa.gov.au/about-us/disclaimer
[3] See the Environment and Communities Safe from Radiation (ECSFR) open letter to Dr Murphy
https://ecsfr.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CMO-OPEN-LETTER-11-June-2020.pdf
[4] See this recent additions addition to a compilation of scientific papers https://www.saferemr.com/2019/07/recent-research.html
[5] Environmental Health Trust. I suggest watching the ‘About EHT first at https://ehtrust.org/about/ then look at https://ehtrust.org/key-issues/cell-phoneswireless/5g-networks-iot-scientific-overview-human-health-risks/
[6] See video of arsonist’s work https://www.facebook.com/7NEWSAdelaide/videos/police-hunting-phone-tower-arsonist-at-morphett-vale/1187584308240536/
[7] US Senator Blumenthal interviews ‘Big Wireless’ Telco executives regarding their research into 5G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ5soLrvXFg
[8] This initiative and the signatories to this Appeal can be seen at https://www.5gspaceappeal.org/about
[9] See an alphabetically organised list of studies on this South Australian based website https://www.seen.org.au/research/emf-studies/
[10] Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Children’s Health Defense Trust includes this article in its latest newsletter 1.08.2020: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/advocacy-policy/childrens-health-defense-principal-brief-in-landmark-case-against-fcc-on-5g-and-wireless-harms-submitted/?utm_source=salsa&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=eb48c36a-5fe8-4a20-b0f9-4e1f196ad924
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