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An ongoing investigation by the Socialist Equality Party |
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Return to Record of the Workers Inquiry Daughter not counted in
official leukaemia 'cluster' June and Tom Robertson lost their daughter, Linda Tucker, a school teacher, to leukaemia last July. Linda also left behind her husband and a 10-year-old son. She was only 31 when she was diagnosed with chronic granular cystic leukaemia in 1988, which turned to the acute stage in June 1996. Because Linda lived in the Wollongong suburb of Mangerton, just to the north of the Port Kembla steelworks, she has not been included in the Illawarra Public Health Unit's supposed "investigation" into the leukaemia crisis. The Health Unit has defined the high incidence of leukaemia among young people in the region as a "cluster" affecting only those who have lived and worked all their lives in four suburbs to the south of Port Kembla - Cringila, Lake Heights, Berkeley and Warrawong. By this definition of a "cluster," the Health Unit is seeking to isolate the leukaemia cases in these suburbs from the wider problem of leukaemias and cancers throughout the area. June, a former school clerical assistant, and Tom, a retired steel industry engineering, technical and welfare officer, attended a recent meeting of the Committee for a Workers Inquiry, after which they spoke to Workers News. "MY daughter was a healthy person," June Robertson said. "She was a school teacher who taught at Oak Flats and Dapto schools as well as at Cringila school for a short period. She lived all her life in Mangerton, on the Mount St Thomas end, in close proximity to the steelworks. "She was a happy and healthy person with everything in life to live for. All of a sudden, out of the blue, came this leukaemia. I would really like to know why this happened. I would like to see an investigation into whether something in the environment caused it, so that other members of my family, particularly my grandchildren, and other members of the community, can avoid this disease. "Eight years ago we discovered that there were 35 cases of leukaemia annually in the Illawarra. Over the eight year period which followed we noticed just how many teachers and school ancillary staff were diagnosed with leukaemia or cancer. It was an incredible number. I often wondered if there was some connection with building materials used in the schools. "Long before the latest cases were revealed last year I had suspicions about schools. That was purely a personal thought because I was working in schools in the time. I also feel that leukaemia is a wider problem than just the Warrawong-Port Kembla area, because winds blow in four directions. A lot of people in the Coniston-Mount St Thomas areas have leukaemias and other cancers. "For a long time we more or less accepted the disease. It was only when this investigation started, when Melissa Cristiano instigated it, that I felt it was about time that some investigation was made. "Linda was in hospital around the same time that Melissa first drew attention to this. Had Linda been here now she would certainly be supporting this investigation. "I would hope that the health authorities are doing everything possible to investigate this, but it doesn't really satisfy me. I think an independent study should be conducted by people who haven't got any vested interests. I would really like answers. "Every morning our pool would be covered in silver scum that sank to the bottom during the day. It was very difficult to remove it; the vacuum cleaner would not pick it up. It's still happening today. "The fallout always occurs at night. It is quite obvious - they let the muck goat night. The pool was cleaned during the day but the next morning the scum was back." Tom Robertson added: "Linda attracted other people who suffered the disease and we found out via the victims just how many there were around Wollongong. We're convinced that the cause is something environmental, because it is so widespread and because it particularly hits the 20 to 35 age bracket. "We're open-minded as to what the causes might be. It might be a multiple set of conditions. "I must confess that I'm a cynic regarding authorities and bureaucrats. Because of my experience, I'm just used to them covering up. I don't expect much from a government committee. "I worked for 45 years in the steel industry and I know that BHP management will protect themselves, just as the Wollongong Council, the EPA and the Area Health Service will. Their job is survival. "BHP executives in Port Kembla take their orders in Melbourne. No decisions are made here. Their policy would have been decided in Melbourne. Public relations consultants are used as hatchetmen, so that BHP management does not have blood on its hands. "If you limit the study you will limit the answers. My daughter is not counted in the 'cluster' even though she lived and worked directly under the fumes of the prevailing winds, within 3 km of the steelworks. She worked in the Oak Flats-Albion Park area, which has one of the highest fallout rates in Australia. With a prevailing nor-easter, that's where the steelworks pollution goes. "I worked in the steel industry when blokes worked like slaves in terrible conditions. I have lived long enough to know that very few of those blokes live past 60. BHP used to take migrants straight off the ships to work in the coke ovens. When they learnt English they got out quick smart." |