Launch of the People's Inquiry Report !

After 18 months of intense analysis and research, the People's Inquiry Commissioners have completed their Report and Recommendations.
It can be downloaded from the
People's Inquiry website

It was launched at a celebration held on Friday 9th November 2007 in the flash new Waitakere City Council Chambers.

Whew! It was overwhelming!

Havent been able to write anything for a week or two. Had to "recover" emotionally from listening for a week to the testimonies of many West Aucklanders who have suffered terribly from the two years of constant aerial spraying over the city. Their stories are the people's evidence of the impacts of the aerial spraying - serious, documented, health impacts,financial impacts, emotional impacts ( stress and distress), life impacts. The fact that nearly 2 years since the spraying had stopped, people were still keen to present their submissions, and the emotional pain of their stories was still close to the surface, shows how devastating this biosecurity fiasco was.
Who will be accountable?

The Peoples Inquiry has begun at last

I will resume my journal here with my more personal feelings and reactions to events and to the testimonies of the People's Inquiry. There's also another diary with photos to be found on a new blog
www.peoplesinquiry.blogspot.com.

Hey We're Back!

Watch this space for more regular postings and updates on the People's Inquiry which is now only 5 weeks away! There's been lots of work quietly going on by a dedicated crew to organise this event.

Environmentally Induced Illnesses

Dr Thomas Kerns will be one of the Commissioners at the People's Inquiry next March 2006. You can read about his book,Environmentally Induced Illnesses:
Ethics, Risk Assessment and Human Rights here.

The People's Enquiry dates shifted to March 2006

Due to more time needed to get the necessary funding, the People's Inquiry has been rescheduled to take place next March 2006.

Hana Blackmore, convenor of the People’s Inquiry Steering Committee said that funding challenges forced the committee to make the difficult decision to move the Inquiry.
In a Press Release from People's Inquiry Inc., she said,


“One month out from the Inquiry, we were faced with travel and accommodation bookings for our Commissioners that needed to be confirmed,” she said.


“The decision was made to postpone because there was no guarantee that essential funding would be raised in time. The Steering Committee was also acutely conscious of the inordinate amount of time and effort we were having to spend on fundraising to the exclusion of everything else.”


After reviewing the situation the Committee all agreed the Inquiry would be compromised by continuing with the November date, said Hana Blackmore. She added that there were benefits to the move.


“It means we have more time to concentrate on co-ordinating the essential submission process. Over eighty people have already registered to give evidence, and with half wishing to speak to their submissions, the extra day available with the March booking gives us more flexibility to fit everyone in.”

Recent NZ Herald Article :Historical events leading to People's Inquiry

A recent article in the NZ Herald gives a fairly balanced overview of the whole story so far and interviews some of the key players in this saga.

People's Inquiry Website is Launched

People can now read background information and make an online submission to the People's Inquiry.

Go to
www.peoplesinquiry.co.nz

Revisiting the Dateline Documentary - Life under the Spraying

Just in case you are not so sure what all the fuss over aerial spraying is about, you can view the Dateline documentary here.
(Look at the Spray Day documentary.)It describes life under the aerial spraying of West Auckland, and interviews some key players in the drama. It shows the gulf between the politicians and the affected residents. It is the documentary which first publically exposed the suspected "other ingredients" ( besides the Btk bacteria) of Foray48B. You can hear a MAF director stating that he would be happy for his children to be sprayed. You can hear the Minister of Biosecurity state that any health impacts from the spray cannot be proven. This was initially shown on TV in 2003. The anger that people in the community felt about being sprayed against their will with chemicals that made some very sick, is still simmering in the community in 2005. This was evident by the high turnout at the recent public meeting which gave a unanimous vote of approval for the upcoming People's Inquiry.