
Issue No 102		13 July 2001

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News

Surfers Remember Oil Slick Disaster

By Zoe Reynolds

Surfers, seafarers and environmentalists will mark the tenth anniversary of the Kirki shipping disaster with an oily protest this weekend.

Surfing legend Australian longboard champion Wayne Deane will be competing at the Whalebone Classic surf riding competition at Cottesloe, WA, alongside other top talent including four times state champion Chris Fullston.

Greenpeace, the MUA and the International Transport Workers� Federation are sponsoring the competition under the banner safer ships, cleaner seas.

The event will kick off at 10am with MUA seafarer and surfer Cai Wernblom covering himself in �oil� to show the world how a shipping disaster would impact on our beaches.

'It�s great to see the union backing this event,' said champion surf rider Wayne Deane. 'One of the reasons I'm here is because I'm an environmentalist. It's shocking the way they let some of these foreign ships run down. You know they are going to go down at any time. It' s almost as if you have to shock people into realising what�s happening.�

Chris Fullston, state champion and Margaret River Classic winner still remembers when the Kirki broke up: 'I was a professional fishermen at the time and it threatened my livelihood. I�ve surfed overseas in oceans polluted by crude oil spills. You get black goo all over your board like tar. The union campaign is really a good thing for the environment.'

The Kirki broke up in 1991 and almost wiped out every beach and cray fishing area for hundreds of miles. This year alone there�s been around a dozen major shipping disasters including the Jessica in Galapagos island reserve in January,the Kristal off Spain in February and the Xana off the Greek coast in May. And let�s not forget the near miss with the Bunga Teratai Satu on our Great Barrier Reef last November.

'Yet the Federal Government is opening up our coast to more and more of these substandard ships and inviting just such a disaster, here,' said MUA spokesperson Wally Pritchard.

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  Issue 102 contents

Interview: Jolly Green Giant
Senator Bob Brown on the upcoming federal poll, balances of power and what the Greens can teach the trade union movement.

Workplace: Call Centre Takeover
Theresa Davison brings us this real-life story from the coal face of the call centre industry.

E-Change: 1.2 Community � The Ultimate Network
Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel look at the potential for network technologies to reconnect communities.

International: Child's Play
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has recently entered a new alliance with the Child Labour Schools Company to support a project for child labourers in India.

History: Flowers to the Rebels Faded
With the departure of our own Wobbly, a look at the development of the Wobblies in Australia and their view of Labor politicians and the work ethic seems timely.

East Timor: A Dirty Little War
In this extract from his new book, John Martinkus recounts the scenes in Dili immediately following the independence ballot.

Satire: Telstra Share Failure Ends City-Bush Divide: Everybody Screwed Equally
Communications Minister Richard Alston today claimed that the government had fulfilled its promise to ensure that the bush was not disproportionately disadvantaged by Telstra's privatisation.

Review: Cheesy Management
Currently climbing Australian best-seller lists is the 'life-changing' motivational book 'Who Moved My Cheese?' Rowan Cahill has a nibble but doesn't like the taste.

» Search for a Dude Begins

» Public Money Backs a Stellar Bully

» Workers Get First Meal Break In Five Years

» Soft Penalty for Video Nasties

» Negligent Employers Should Pay

» Brit Cleaners Serve It Up to Aussie Boss

» Rio Tinto Guilty of Hunter Valley Sackings

» Rail Workers Strike for their Families' Security

» Nurses Seek Urgent Action on Pay

» Workers Win Tip Top Delegate Rights

» Telstra Halts Latest Privatisation Plans

» Requiem for the Banks

» Surfers Remember Oil Slick Disaster

» Widespread Mail Disruptions on Cards

» Minister for Caged Hair Gets Hot Welcome in West

» Cleaner Wins Right to Attend Family Reunion

» Howard Cuts R&D Spending by 15 Per Cent

» Fears Grow Over Shangri-La Protests

» Mick Young Play Award

» Activist Notebook