Update added 24 October 2019: Thank you very much to everyone who braved the bad weather and came to the protest yesterday. As images of the protest become available they will be posted on this website and they will also be posted on the 5G Free New Zealand Facebook page.

Laurie Ross from Concerned Citizens for 5G Free West and New Zealand and another protester holding up the 5G Free New Zealand banner at the protest outside Vodafone’s Auckland headquarters in the Smales Farm complex on the North Shore on 23 October 2019.

The protest is still on despite the bad weather

Just a note that despite the bad weather, the Auckland 5G placard protest is still on. The organisers are recommending that people dress warmly (a wind and waterproof jacket would be ideal) and also avoid the central city area while traveling due to the hazardous smoke from the fire at the Sky City Convention Centre.

Full details of the protest are at the link below:

Some of the protesters gathered around the entrance to Vodafone’s Auckland offices on 23 October 2019.

The press release for the protest is below:

22.10.2019

Press Release for the ‘5G Peaceful Placard Protest’
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For immediate release:

Tomorrow, Wednesday October 23rd 2019 there is to be a ‘Placard Protest’ outside Vodafone Auckland Head Office on the North Shore. Protestors will gather at 11.30am for a 12pm start – through to 2pm.

Protestors will ask Vodafone to halt the roll out of 5G, and request the government places a moratorium on 5G until more research is done into its effects on people and the environment.

Co- organiser John Hieatt says “I am concerned there has been no consultation with the public by the government or the telcos about the risk or benefit of 5G, and whether we need it. 5G has not been proven safe, and in fact there is much scientific evidence that it is not safe”.

5G (fifth generation) is not the same technology as 4G and previous generations. 5G uses much shorter and higher energy microwaves. While they can carry more information their range is less and they are easily blocked by buildings, cars, airplanes, and trees. Overseas small cell transmitters are placed 250 metres apart on street lights, and leafy trees have been removed – trees that we so badly need as carbon sinks.

In an appeal to the European Union, more than 244 scientists and doctors from 41 countries warn about the danger of 5G, and a massive increase in involuntary exposure to electromagnetic radiation.

The UN Human Rights Advisory Committee has invited input on the opportunities and challenges of new technology. The Australian government has called for submissions on 5G for its Parliamentary Inquiry. Brussels has stopped its 5G roll out over safety concerns. So far the New Zealand government has treated 5G rollout as if it’s inevitable without any social licence from communities

As well as concerns for human health there are warnings about the survival of bees and insects. We are already in a massive insect decline with predictions of a complete insect collapse within one hundred years. We know radio frequencies may be partially responsible for the current situation, and 5G is expected to hasten their decline.

We are in the midst of what has been called a climate crisis, but no scientific research has been done to see how 5G affects the climate. Soon SpaceX, will be sending up 12,000 more satellites to bombard us with non-stop RF radiation. What are the implications on the climate?

“Over 8000 people have signed a petition saying, we call on the New Zealand Government to exercise the Precautionary Principle and place a Moratorium on 5G until more independent scientific research is done on the cumulative biological effects of 5G on the health and safety of citizens and the environment, and the technology has been proven to be safe, says Lisa Er, and I think that proves considerable concern about what is being foisted on us without our consent.”
Many more petitions are circulating the country, also expressing concerns.

Nelson Lawyer Sue Grey says, “There are many reasons why there should be a moratorium on 5g rollout and on the allocation of rights to broadcast using this spectrum. These include public and environmental harm as well as questions about our massive investment in fibre optic cable, and why that is no longer satisfactory for our communications and connectivity.”

The New Zealand Government, however, is sitting on its hands – subservient to the Telco corporations. The guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection are, according to the Lancet article (see below), based on a premise that microwave radiation (RFEMR) is safe based only on thermal heating effects. The premise that the only effects from RFEMR are heating has now been proven to be incorrect yet these are the guidelines used by the NZ government.

Numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines and the WHO classified RFEMR as a Class 2B carcinogen in 2011.

As Dr. Martin Pall PhD says, “Putting in tens of millions of 5G antennae without a single biological test of safety has got to be about the stupidest idea anyone has had in the history of the world.”

Ends

Note to media reading this: The phone number for the spokeswoman for this protest may be found on the relevant release on scoop.co.nz