Home - Mark Purdey - Tributes - Mark Purdey's Book ' Animal Pharm'  - Articles -  Science - Research Fund -  News - Politics
Site Map  -  FAQ's -  Contacts -  Search -  Links

Trail:

To the Ends of the Earth

page 2

page 3

page 4

page 5

page 6

page 7

page 8

page 9

Page 10

page 11

page 12

These eco-toxicological problems are further exacerbated by the sheer multi complexity of a multitude of subjective, political and vested interest pressures operating in the heartbeat of this community. These influences are so sensitively interwoven, that the overall position ( or lack of position ) that pans out at the end of the day, is acutely insensitive to the health and well being of the Angurugu people. Whenever a possible solution to this problem has loomed up on the horizon, one or other of the conflicting interests has invariably stepped in the way - stalemating any potential progress. The psycho-neuro problems of Angurugu are consequently escalating to crisis proportions. If no responsible, independent authority steps in to break this deadlock, the village could literally suicide itself in the end. The stalwart presence of the Massey family and the Anglicare mission is the only oasis of hope and light.

In this respect, it is imperative that an objective third party steps in to take the reins from the autocracy of the mining corporation. Aboriginal communities have always operated on the extreme of ego less, Buddhist-like, laid back lines, leaving them totally vulnerable to take over by any type of invading aggressor. In this respect, the mining corporation’s power base has unwittingly found itself replacing the vacuum of endemic Aboriginal anarchy that has long over ruled this island. Whilst many of the corporation’s efforts to integrate with the Aboriginal community have been highly commendable and unique as far as mining company track records go - e.g. employing Aboriginal folk to enact an immediate reforestation of mined land with indigenous saplings - they are not equipped or indeed suitably skilled to deal with the escalating health problems, whether they accepted any culpability or not.

Furthermore, it seems unlikely that the Corporation would ever be prepared to accept any level of responsibility for the health effects resulting from excessive airborne manganese, which, at the very least, has been exacerbated by their mining activities - e.g.; manganese dust storms across Angurugu during the cyclone season; when the winds whip across the storage heaps of crushed manganese and tailings waste ? Or the impact of sonic shock waves from the blasting of explosives on the blood brain barriers of Angurugu residents ?

But there is an increasing reluctance amidst the Aboriginal community - as well as the miners - to publicly admit to the escalating levels of psychotic violence in this community. Furthermore there is an outright denial of any association between the violence and the hefty levels of manganese that have been repeatedly recorded in the soil and atmospheres. The denial also extends to any association between Groote syndrome and manganese exposure; although this is not the case with the poor victims themselves, who seem intuitively connected to the true cause of their disease.

The problem lies with the fact that the one and only economic pillar of this village is cemented by the massive royalties that the Aboriginal community are reaping from the mining corporation for the mining of their land. In this respect, it has becoming increasingly convenient for both the mining communities and the Aboriginal authorities to sadly scapegoat blame for the uncomfortable psycho-neuro problems of their community onto the vagaries of some genetic-cum-alcoholic abuse causal theory. Some Aborigines have put it down to Karmic curses on the particular families affected - sadly ironic, given that the particular line of the Lalaras embroiled in Groote syndrome are perhaps the most highly regarded for their passive qualities within the clan.

All studies funded by the Mining corporation into the health problems at Angurugu have adopted a judicious selection of the prerequisites operating in the aetiological interplay. Instead of considering the overall multi-factorial causal jigsaw, their conclusions have invariably misattributed the blame onto the ‘half truths’ of the whole story - e.g.; prerequisites such as individual genetic susceptibility and alcoholic abuse have been greatly overstated; convenient scapegoats considering the commercial interests of the mining corporation.

Dennis’s pick up truck pulled up in front of the Mission. Many of the Groote victims were already parked up in their wheel chairs on the veranda. Some clearly recognised Dennis from their former days of employment at the mine and were still just about managing to pull a smile in recognition of the man as he walked onto the platform.

We had planned to go for another sampling spree. This time to the local salt marsh lagoons; vast expanses of shallows that indent inland from the coastline, now and again penetrating into the depths of the rainforest. This region still lay over the same vein of manganese bedrock, and it is these marshes which have provided the Angurugu Aborigines with a steady supply of giant mud crabs and mussels over the years.

We followed what seemed to be like a tank track through the forest - a well rutted legacy of far too many pick up trucks traversing during the rainy season, I guessed. But it was well sun baked by now and the truck gripped well. Wisps of stringy back and vines caught across the windscreen, and I saw the brilliant green flashes of parrots in fright - the flamboyant meteorites of the forest.

We eventually pulled out at the borders of the forest and the broad expanse of salt marsh opened into full view. I was able to scan in the full experience of this curious ecology. The salt crust left by some rather exceptional high tides had cloaked over all botanical forms of life. This event was presumably responsible for annihilating the last stand of bush vegetation along the frontline of the forest, which had left a rather impressive array of sculptured skeletal structures - the branch work of dead mangrove bushes - that had clearly bore the full force of seasonal cyclonic rhythms over the years, along with the abrasive surf forming actions of the sand and salt storms.

Design by Equofax
Last updated 09-Feb-2007