Industry resorts to take-over tactics to silence the opposition
Wednesday, 08 April 1998 10:00
The attempt by Gunnedah cotton growers, aerial applicators and prominent Gunnedah business people and councillors, to take-over the widely supported Gunnedah Environment Group (GEG), by stacking their Annual General Meeting with "anti-environment members" can only be seen as desperate in the extreme, according to Total Environment Centre (TEC).
"This tactic is another example of the lengths the cotton and chemical industries will go to in order to silence legitimate opposition. It also shows that GEG are having an affect if industry sees them as that much of a threat", Jo Immig, Chemicals Campaigner with Total Environment Centre said today.
"The mediation process has failed to engender a "spirit of co-operation" which this blatant act of bullying indicates. It is clear that the majority of cotton farmers and aerial applicators have no intention of working within the mediated outcomes. Any bridge of trust that was established has been completely destroyed. How could anyone feel safe taking their concerns to a local committee for dispute resolution after this?"
"Any industry using hazardous chemicals with the potential to cause serious damage to the environment and human health should not be left to regulate themselves. The cotton and aerial spray industries are no exception. They were given a chance to show they could act responsibly within a self-regulatory framework, and they failed", Ms Immig said.
"The EPA and Environment Minister, Pam Allan need no further evidence of the serious bias industry has against a co-operative approach to managing pesticides. The EPA needs to come out of hiding and show some leadership with its charge to protect the environment and people from exposure to pesticide pollution."
"The logical course of action now is to trigger the Section 49 Order under the Pesticides Act for Gunnedah, and to amend the Act to provide a more effective regulatory framework for management of pesticides in NSW", concluded Ms Immig.
