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An ongoing investigation by the Socialist Equality Party |
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Return to Record of the Workers Inquiry No reply from Carr to Open Letter By Mike Head No reply has been received from NSW Premier Bob Carr to the Open Letter delivered to his office on Thursday May 22 by a delegation from the Committee for a Workers Inquiry into the Wollongong leukaemia and cancer crisis. The Open Letter from the committee's convenor, Peter Stavropoulos, demands that Carr elaborate on the widely-reported statement he made that steelworkers had cancer in their bodies as a result of exposure to dangerous chemicals. As the Open Letter states, it was a staggering admission by Carr that he and his government are aware that BHP steelworkers have for years died of cancers for which BHP is responsible. The Letter demands answers to know what information the government has on the cancer deaths and why this information has never been made available to workers, their families and the public. It points out that if BHP workers are exposed to toxic chemicals then residents in the surrounding suburbs are also exposed to leaks and emissions of the same chemicals. Although Carr has not responded to the Open Letter, BHP certainly has. Its spokesman contacted ABC radio in Newcastle after Stavropoulos was interviewed about the contents of the letter. BHP's representative condemned Carr for making an "irresponsible" statement. This public dressing down expresses
the company's determination to prevent any information emerging
on the cancer toll. It is also a clear instruction to the Labor
government to reveal nothing. In the first place, this is a bid to cover up the information which the government has. But it also reveals the contempt of the Labor leadership for the many workers and their families in both Newcastle and Wollongong who have reported high incidences of cancer. As far as the Labor government is concerned, these reports of widespread suffering and death are mere "anecdotes," as if they are not compelling evidence of a serious health crisis. Carr's representative told Workers News that Carr's office plans to acknowledge receipt of the Open Letter and refer it to various government agencies, including the Illawarra Public Health Unit, the EPA and WorkCover. This reference of the letter to very agencies involved in the government's leukaemia cover-up is another attempt to divert attention away from the real question: what information, already in the government's hands, was Carr referring to in his comments? The growing strength of support for the Workers Inquiry compelled some media outlets, including both TV stations in Wollongong, the Illawarra Mercury, and radio stations in Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle to carry reports on the Workers Inquiry public meeting in Port Kembla on May 18 and the subsequent delegation to deliver the Open Letter to Carr. Both the EPA and the NSW Cancer Council, which keeps the official cancer statistics in NSW, then contacted the Workers Inquiry to attempt to counter the charge made in the Open Letter that they have refused to release data on benzene emissions in Wollongong and on the postcode-by-postcode distribution of cancer cases. However, like Carr, both agencies have still refused, so far, to hand over the requested data to the Workers Inquiry. The publication and circulation of the Open Letter has provoked considerable anger among Port Kembla steelworkers, as well as residents, about the role of the Carr government. The Workers Inquiry will continue to
demand a full reply by Carr as well as access to the official
statistics in time for the inquiry's public hearings on July
19-20. As Stavropoulos emphasised in concluding the Open Letter,
thousands of his fellow steelworkers and their families will
take a keen interest in Carr's response. |