What does ADI have to hide?
By Scott Duffus
The suitability of the St Marys Australian Defence Industries (ADI) site for housing development by Lend Lease has been called into question by ADI's refusal to provide information to the NSW health department.
In February 1996, a petition was circulated requesting that the department conduct a survey into the effects of the weapons production on former employees and residents of adjoining housing estates. The safety of any future development on the site was also to be investigated.
Two hundred signatures were collected and the petition was presented to federal MP Roger Price and state MP Jim Anderson, who were asked to forward the originals to the NSW health department and the federal department of defence.
There was no response and by November 1996 it was discovered that the petition had not left Price's office. Only following strong protests from the ADI Residents Action Group was the petition sent to the health department and the Western Sydney Public Health Unit.
The health unit decided to investigate the occupational health of ADI employees, the effects of emissions from related industries on nearby residents and whether the site could be suitably repaired for development.
When the ADI were contacted for information, not only did it refuse to cooperate, it protested to the health department, through a local Labor state MP, that the residents had no right to seek information! To date there has been no response to a letter, sent in February, from the NSW health minister to the defence minister.
What has the ADI to hide? Both Penrith and Blacktown councils are so unimpressed with ADI assurances that they have demanded a 50-year indemnity on any development. Before any approval is given, the people of western Sydney deserve assurances that the site is safe for any use.
[Scott Duffus is an activist with the ADI Residents Action Group.]