What are the grounds for giving no weight to community concerns about 5G roll-out
Wendy Pond made this Official Information request to Paul Goldsmith
Currently waiting for a response from Paul Goldsmith, they must respond promptly and normally no later than (details and exceptions).
From: Wendy Pond
MINISTER OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Dear Paul Goldsmith,
Given the roll-out of 5G is causing distress in our community; and
given OneNZ holds the view that the public is not entitled to have a say in the choice of location for utilities; and
given that our concerns about physical and financial effects on our well-being have been dismissed by the commercial telecommunication corporations on the grounds that parliament has approved the 5G roll-out; and
noting that the External Affairs Manager for OneNZ told us, “Vodafone doesn’t have to consult; it can do what it likes” (pers.comm., Lisa Mulitalo, 2023);
QUESTION 1, WHAT ARE THE GROUNDS on which telecommunication corporations and allied companies are entitled to tell residents that where the utilities comply with regulations, NZ law permits the roll-out of 5G without a requirement on the commercial companies to negotiate locations with residents and to avoid, remedy, mitigate effects.
Please consider my question carefully, as (i) effects can only be identified by consultation with residents, and (ii) New Zealanders have informed government and companies of substantial physical and financial effects that are unacceptable to us, and (iii) NZ law requires every person to avoid, remedy, mitigate those effects.
QUESTION 2, Is the advice from the commercial telecommunication companies to New Zealand residents (that residents have no say in where poles are placed and companies have no responsibility for effects on our lives) the whole truth ?
QUESTION 3, What provision has been made by government for a community to reject the installation of 5G technology?
Yours faithfully,
Wendy Pond
From: Paul Goldsmith (MIN)
Paul Goldsmith
Please note that this acknowledgement is an automatically generated email.
Kia ora,
Thank you for contacting Hon Paul Goldsmith, Minister of Justice, Minister
for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Minister for Media and Communications,
Minister for State Owned Enterprises and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi
Negotiations.
Hon Paul Goldsmith considers all correspondence important and appreciates
you taking the time to write. As the Minister receives a large amount of
correspondence, it is not always possible to personally reply to all
emails.
If your correspondence is diary related, requests will be processed
accordingly.
If your correspondence requires a response, you can expect a response in
due course.
If your correspondence relates to another Minister's portfolio, your
correspondence will be transferred to the appropriate Minister.
If your correspondence expresses an opinion, it will be noted.
If you have made a request for official information then this will be
managed in accordance with the provisions of the Official Information Act
1982, which may include transfer to a more relevant Minister or agency.
If your request relates to media, it will be referred to Minister
Goldsmith’s Press Secretary.
Latest information from the Beehive can be found here:
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/
If you are concerned about someone's wellbeing, you can call your local
mental health crisis team.
A full list of numbers is available here:
https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/s...
Thank you for the taking the time to write.
Ngâ mihi,
Office of Hon Paul Goldsmith
Minister of Justice| Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage | Minister
for Media and Communications | Minister for State Owned Enterprises |
Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations
Freepost: Private Bag 18041 | Parliament Buildings | Wellington 6011
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Paul Goldsmith (MIN)
Paul Goldsmith
Good morning Wendy,
On behalf of Hon Paul Goldsmith, I acknowledge receipt of your official information request dated 7 December 2024, where you requested:
- What are the grounds on which telecommunication corporations and allied companies are entitled to tell residents that where the utilities comply with regulations, NZ law permits the roll-out of 5G without a requirement on the commercial companies to negotiate locations with residents and to avoid, remedy, mitigate effects
- Is the advice from the commercial telecommunication companies to New Zealand residents (that residents have no say in where poles are placed and companies have no responsibility for effects on our lives) the whole truth ?
- What provision has been made by government for a community to reject the installation of 5G technology?
We received your request on 7 December 2024. We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 27 January 2025, being 20 working days after the day your request was received.
Over the holiday period in December and January there is a three-week period that doesn’t count as ‘working days’. For Official Information Act (OIA) requests, that period is 25 December to 15 January, inclusive. That means any OIA requests submitted on 27 November or later may take a bit longer than you expected.
Ngā mihi,
Office of Hon Paul Goldsmith
Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage | Minister of Justice | Minister for State Owned Enterprises | Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations | Minister for Media and Communications
-----Original Message-----
From: Wendy Pond <[FOI #29484 email]>
Sent: Saturday, 7 December 2024 5:41 PM
To: Paul Goldsmith (MIN) <[email address]>
Subject: OIAPG405 / Official Information request - What are the grounds for giving no weight to community concerns about 5G roll-out
MINISTER OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Dear Paul Goldsmith,
Given the roll-out of 5G is causing distress in our community; and
given OneNZ holds the view that the public is not entitled to have a say in the choice of location for utilities; and
given that our concerns about physical and financial effects on our well-being have been dismissed by the commercial telecommunication corporations on the grounds that parliament has approved the 5G roll-out; and
noting that the External Affairs Manager for OneNZ told us, “Vodafone doesn’t have to consult; it can do what it likes” (pers.comm., Lisa Mulitalo, 2023);
QUESTION 1, WHAT ARE THE GROUNDS on which telecommunication corporations and allied companies are entitled to tell residents that where the utilities comply with regulations, NZ law permits the roll-out of 5G without a requirement on the commercial companies to negotiate locations with residents and to avoid, remedy, mitigate effects.
Please consider my question carefully, as (i) effects can only be identified by consultation with residents, and (ii) New Zealanders have informed government and companies of substantial physical and financial effects that are unacceptable to us, and (iii) NZ law requires every person to avoid, remedy, mitigate those effects.
QUESTION 2, Is the advice from the commercial telecommunication companies to New Zealand residents (that residents have no say in where poles are placed and companies have no responsibility for effects on our lives) the whole truth ?
QUESTION 3, What provision has been made by government for a community to reject the installation of 5G technology?
Yours faithfully,
Wendy Pond
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #29484 email]
Is [Paul Goldsmith request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Paul Goldsmith? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://fyi....
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://fyi....
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
________________________________
hide quoted sections
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence