INNOCENCE PROJECT WA

Last night Westralia.Net’s Justice Officer John Button, headed an evening for the supporters of the recently launched Innocence Project WA www.inocenceprojectwa.org.au is modelled on the US innocence projects that seek to exonerate innocent victims of serious criminal convictions.

To date the US group www.innocenceproject.org has successfully exonerated 183 victims, solely on DNA evidence.

Some believe WA appears to specialise in wrongful convictions, if some recent media is to be believed.

Mistakes and bad judgements happen everywhere, but what concerns Westralia.Net is the reluctance of the WA public system to seize the opportunities to review practices that result in mistakes.

Maybe it is too big an ask for the local justice system to go against human nature and display some social maturity by seeking self-improvement of procedures.

Despite the uphill battle Innocence Project WA faces against the system, we believe it is these type of public pressure groups that will assist in evolving the WA prosecution system to a superior level that other justice systems will wish to emulate.

On the down side is the fact that John Button is still awaiting an apology for his wrongful conviction and time on death row after 40 years. …Still, we’re optimists.

On Monday (24th) night at 8pm the second of 3 parts of the "Australian Story" program screens nationally on ABC TV. This series of programs highlight the covictions of the Fazzari, Martinez & Pereiras case, currently under the spotlight in Westralia. It is a credit to all involved to achieve this level of national media coverage.

www.justice.westralia.net

...MEANWHILE, IN SYDNEY

Dioxin blood testing of fisherman in Sydney Harbour reveal dioxin levels of 2 to 10 times the Australian average.

What’s this to do with Westralia?

The ABC reports the NSW government tested 95 people to investigate claims of dioxin pollution in the harbour.

Compare this with the WA government’s stance of keeping the public ignorant about their own citizens' dioxin poisoning.

At derbydioxin.westralia.net you will see we have lost over 50 citizens to alleged dioxin poisoning. Yet despite the WA government’s own report recommending blood serum testing for past dioxin exposure, the government refuses to initiate any testing.

What a difference in NSW, where they actually want to investigate the truth!

www.derbydioxin.westralia.net

 

 

MORE POISONED CITIZENS KEPT IN THE DARK BY WA GOVERMENT

Westralia.Net Administration has been pressuring the WA government for several years to come clean on the citizens occupationally lead poisoned and not being informed.

The real concern is not just the contraction of the disease, but the extremely high blood lead levels recorded in WA in past years, with the workers not being told they required urgent medical attention.

The timely and appropriate medical treatment would have removed lead from their bodies and prevented permanent brain injury and damage to other organs.

Due to the WA Health Department’s practice at the time of not informing the workers of the true nature of their high lead exposure and medical requirements, former workers now suffer debilitating and permanent injuries.

Our Admin contacted the WA Health Minister, Jim McGinty, and requested an investigation be undertaken to establish the number of workers affected, and also to locate affected citizens, so they and their physicians be fully informed and manage their health accordingly.

As a result the WA government’s Chief Medical Adviser, Dr. Margaret Stevens, has incredibly concluded that no action should be undertaken, as it would only cause anxiety to the affected workers.

Given that the results of lead poisoning at the levels in question usually result in severe permanent symptoms of the disease, loss of economic abilities, and serious decline of general physical and mental health, these former workers need all the help they are morally and legitimately entitled.

Yet the WA government says otherwise. It prefers the citizens not be informed, suffer in ignorance of the disease without correct medical treatment, and be denied statuary entitlements to medical costs and other claims for which they are fully and legitimately entitled.

One wonders why the WA Health system is not what I it should be. This attitude by the WA government is a good example of the leadership at the helm.

Not much has improved from the behaviour of the past. See our Senate Submission http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/toxic_dust/submissions/sub42.pdf

Submission and our Health Officer’s page for a brief history of some of the WA fiascos. http://healthwestralia.tripod.com

If citizens do not fight for change, they should not be surprised if someone in their own family becomes another victim.

 

 

 

TOXIC DUSTS IN WESTRALIA
The Western Australian state government was recently given some more stick in the Federal forum for their handling of public health issues during the Australian Federal Government's Senate Inquiry into Toxic Dust.
A Westralia.Net submission served to remind and expose the WA government's "Sweep it under the carpet / Nothing happened here" mentality.
Read the submission here to see how they mismanage your health and hazards: Toxic Dust Fiasco in Westralia

POISONINGS: ...Another Funeral, Another Story
With a funeral yesterday of another former WA government worker supplied illegally with suspect toxic waste it is worthwhile noting the half page story p2 in Wednesday's (5/9) West Australian newspaper.
This tells of upset within some of the rank & file of the ALP about the WA government misleading the public in regards to the agricultural workers' poisonings. The newspaper article refers to a letter circulated to some of the membership.
A copy of that letter (described by the newspaper as "potent") is available from our Derby Dioxin Reports Page
It informs of the way the WA government has conducted the investigation, and suggests the membership should take some responsibility in allowing it's own government ministers to screw innocent citizens to the death.
With more than 50 citizens reported dead, and many innocent lives ruined by the poisonings, one would like to believe the Australian Labor Party membership would have some sense of compassion and justice in assisting these ordinary working people, as opposed to aiding and abetting the deceit so far committed against the truth and the families.

JUSTICE: Only For Seventh Sons Of One-Legged Tugboat Captains.
Early last month Westralia.Net’s (WN) CEO and Justice Officer gave evidence to the WA government’s Legislative Council Standing Committee on Legislation with regards to the proposed Limitations Act reform.
Not only was this an opportunity for private citizens to express a desire to improve legislation, but also gave forum to exposing the apparent criminal actions of WA government officers, the injuries and deaths they allegedly cause, and the “above-the-law” environment they operate.The evidence can now be read here:
WN LIMITATIONS ACT EVIDENCE - Click Here.
It was interesting to see the State Solicitor’s Office (SSO) response. Where WN argument was based on extension of time being available via judicial discretion and all the information pertaining to the delay be available, the SSO argued for policy in legislation that would only allow scope for time extension under particular circumstances and defined circumstances.
(In other words, not much of an improvement from current law, and contrary to Law Reform Commission submission). This would place Westralia out of step with 7 of the other 9 comparable states and jurisdictions, which already have adequate and working Limitations Act that offer real scope for justice to their citizens.
Furthermore in an earlier discussion paper the government states in as many words that it does not have faith in the judiciary. Holy cow! What does that mean?
That’s a pretty diabolical state of affairs.
However that is what the WA government apparently believes is good for you.
It comes as no surprise that the WA government is the biggest beneficiary of fixed-term time extensions with a long record of manipulating factors so claimants run out of time.

FOUR CORNERS TV Program - More Dramas in WESTRALIA!
Monday night 8:30pm October 3rd on ABC television is another story focusing on dramas in Westralia. As readers here at Westralian Wind-Up will know, the natives around the local alumina industrial sites have been getting restless due to emissions affecting their health.
Here is the Four Corners blurb on the upcoming program:

"SOMETHING IN THE AIR" – 4 CORNERS MONDAY 3 OCTOBER
Next on Four Corners: The clash between a giant industry that makes an essential product and a small community dogged by illness and struggling for survival.
For more than a century the hamlet of Yarloop, in the south of Western Australia, has lived off the bounty of its soil. Its majestic jarrah forests made it one of the world’s great timber centres; its pastures nourish a thriving beef and dairy industry.
Now some people fear that the earth may hold the seeds of Yarloop’s demise. Under the ground in the nearby Darling Ranges sit vast deposits of bauxite which are dug up and fed into a huge refinery as part of the cycle to make aluminium.
This process, it is claimed, has been poisoning people in Yarloop.
"It’s like living in a toxic bubble," says one local. Some residents have complained of nosebleeds, sore eyes and throat, skin ulcers and rashes, lethargy and nausea. Others have had worse symptoms: impaired speech, blackouts and palpitations. They jab the finger of blame at the refinery that dominates Yarloop’s landscape and economy – and at the refinery’s owner, the Alcoa company.
Alcoa admits chemical fumes from its refinery used to be an irritant to local people’s health, but insists that problem was fixed by a refurbishment long ago.
The plant is safe, says Alcoa. Yarloop’s air is better than Perth’s, declares Alcoa’s Australian chief Wayne Osborn, who points to studies to back his case: "That refinery today would meet the most stringent world health standards for a new facility."
Alcoa has its backers in Yarloop but some people find it hard to believe what the company says. These include former Alcoa workers who have suffered permanent health damage and been forced into retirement. Alcoa gave them payouts but denies liability.
Other residents give recent accounts about being caught up in huge plumes of pollution coming from the refinery: "It felt like someone threw a match on me. My eyes were burning, my nose, the inside of my nose, my mouth, my throat."
Now Alcoa wants to double the output of its plant. It promises it can do so without increasing the impact of pollution. Opponents fear it will make more people sick and destroy the community.
The State Government will soon give its verdict on the expansion, weighing the personal experiences of residents against the scientific assurances of the company.
Quentin McDermott presents a parable for the industrial age: "Something in the Air" – Four Corners, 8.30pm Monday 3 October, ABC TV.
This program will be repeated about 11pm Wednesday 5 October; also on the ABC2 digital channel at 7pm and 9.15pm Wednesday.

--- After the show viewers will be able to log on to the Four Corners’ web-panel.
Westralia.Net associate Dr. Geoff Pain will be there to answer related questions. Try: http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/
---

WATER, WATER ...
Peter Coyne of Agritechsmartwater dropped us a line to inform us of the water situation at Wellington Dam in Westralia's south west. (For those who came in late... Agritechsmartwater is the outfit who offered the WA government a system of desalinating the not-so-perfect water that is emptied from Wellington Dam to the sea for the purpose of purging the dam. As opposed to the high energy powered Kwinana reverse osmosis plant, the Agritech system was not only going to utilise the water wasted to sea, but also utilise the natural head pressure from the dam to the plant near Brunswick Junction. See our link to Agritech "Perth Water" on our VISION page. To date the WA government has not publicly announced what they don't like about this scheme. Observers may conclude that the WA government is just being bloody-minded about ignoring a solution that perhaps they should have put forward themselves.
Until such worthwhile criticism of the Agritech win/win plan is presented, it is difficult to conclude otherwise.)

Peter Coyne says:
"Apart from us wanting to keep in touch with all our supporters, the major catalyst for updating is the fact that Wellington Dam is about to over flow. Yes thats right, the dam that didn't have enough water for our project is about an inch from the top of the spillway and will probably over flow in the next 24 hours, how embarrassing.
We at AgritechSmartWater do not believe the Water Corporation will announce this event with the fanfare and applause we think the occasion deserves so we are doing it for them.
The Water Corporation publishes on their website the volumes of water held in storage in the Perth Metropolitan area dams and also dams in the South West.
The information for Perth dams can be obtained via this link

http://www.watercorporation.com.au/dams/dams_storageall.cfm?id=1.
The South West Dams can be accessed via http://www.watercorporation.com.au/dams/dams_storageall.cfm?id=3.

It is worth going to both both sites and print both sets of tables. At the bottom of each section it gives the total volume in storage in ML (megalitres) and the % of capacity. What is interesting is the South West Dams are holding over 82% of capacity whereas Perth dams are holding 38% capacity, or less than half.
The big news however, is the fact that Wellington Dam is now holding 183 GL (gigalitres) of water. The 12 Perth Dams excluding Stirling Dam, which is included in the South West figures, is currently holding 237 GL. That means Wellington Dam is holding 76% of all the water currently held in 12 Perth Dams. Not a bad percentage considering the Water Corporation would have us believe there was not the 45 GL of water available for our project.
Another interesting fact is scouring of the water from Wellington Dam commenced in the first week of June, a month earlier than normal. We estimate that between 40-50 GL has already been discharged to the ocean. Had the scouring not occurred, the dam would have overflowed a month ago.
In an article by Suellen Jerrard published in the West Australian on the 4th of June 2005, I claimed the Water Corporation was wasting millions of litres of water a day by scouring to the sea. The response from Water Corporation's S.W manager, "scouring was not a waste and instead was vital in reducing salinity to a level where the water was usable by irrigators". I think its that sort of flawed logic that has got us into our current water crisis. We are only seeking to re-use the water after its left the dam, this would not alter the reason for scouring. What it would do is provide Perth with an additional 45GL of water rather that to discharge it into the ocean.
All this means is the battle continues, and I believe our case has become even stronger and is further strengthened by this further discussion about water from the Yarragadee Aquifer.
Both the Kwinana R.O plant and Yarragadee proposals are going to cost taxpayers in excess of $400M in capital costs and between $15M - $30M in operating costs for a cost of water at between $0.90 - $1.30 per kilolitre, far greater than the cost of reused water from Wellington Dam.

I have also attached a copy of a speech made by the Hon. John Fisher on the 5th of May 2005 during the Water Crisis Adjournment Debate in the Legislative Council. John's speech is to be applauded because it really encapsulates the real issues with water, and it is well worth reading.

You are both, the taxpayer and concerned water user, tell us what you prefer and who you believe."

---- If anyone would like to be emailed a copy of John Fisher's speach, please contact us at: mail.gov@westralia.net ----

Sick Sex
As seen on Public Sector Officer, Jean Thornton's profile at gov.westralia.net Westralia.Net made an issue of the Western Australian state government being forced via public pressure, to be dragged out of the gutter and into realms of decency by ensuring reporting to the police of children with sexually transmitted diseases (STD, mostly gonorrhoea or chlamydia).
As most of the STD infections to young children were in remote communities, there appeared to be opposition to criminal reporting, for fear of interfering with longstanding cultural practices(?)
This is allegedly from the top brains in the WA government Health Dept.
Can't they tell the difference between culture and animalistic degradation?
The latest figures include figures for children between 2 and 5 years of age contracting STD's.
Indeed this was the majority grouping for children under 11.
Whereas before only the WA government Health Dept kept statistics of STD's (For what purpose since they did nothing with the knowledge?), at least now after much public debate and open criticism, the police are obliged to be informed.

This illustrates that public pressure must be maintained "to get things right". In this case, little toddlers were allowed to be horrifically abused with the full knowledge of the WA government, who did nothing but kept the numbers in the columns. If these jerks can't look after innocent and defenseless toddlers' welfare, what hope should you expect for your own welfare?

Alumina Industry - Dust & Fumes A Worry
We will kick off WESTRALIAN WIND-UP at it's new location carrying over from the previous Alumina stories. Westralia.Net associate Dr. Geoff Pain has submitted to the Australian govenments toxic dust inquiry his findings on the hazards of the dust and fumes associated with the the local alumina industry here in Westralia. Go to Pain's submission here: Toxic Dusts - Alumina Industry
At Westralia.Net we see the real hazard as not primarily the industry chasing lower costs and higher profits, but the WA government who is responsible for citizens' environmental health.
Too often we see breaches of environmental regulations by industrial processors, only to have the government agencies downplaying risks, environmental, and health hazards associated with the unregulated emissions and spillages.