IT is hard to comprehend that an agricultural job for the state government could be silently exposing you to life-threatening chemicals.
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For men like Barry Goldsmith, working for the Lands Department in the 1960s became his life.
He would walk the 100 metres from his home to work every day for almost 30 years.
By the time Mr Goldsmith took a redundancy in the early 1990s, most of the chemicals he had used in his career had been banned by the government.
But it seems the damage had already been done.
Today, Barry is the only long-term Lands Department spray hand from Clunes still alive.
Saturday and Monday’s editions of The Courier have unveiled a special investigation by the paper into former state government weed eradicators’ startling new claims of appalling safety standards associated with the use of now-banned chemicals which they say have grossly impacted their lives.
The special investigation found workers routinely and illegally mixed now-banned chemicals to make their jobs faster and unions and management received dozens of complaints from concerned workers, but in most cases failed to act.
What is even more disturbing is that medical records suggest sick workers were poisoned by chemical sprays. The investigation also revealed that management at the time argued they could only afford gear to prevent staff from the negative impacts of the chemicals by sacking staff.
Other employees have said “deep down” they felt the chemicals, including Agent Orange and Mustard Gas, used to clear weeds and rabbit warrens were harmful.
But perhaps the most devastating part is that so many of the employees have since died.
The state government needs to take full responsibility for the failures of the past.
Any approach which is less than a parliamentary inquiry would be turning its back on the loyal employees who gave years of service to the state.
There needs to be a full and through investigation into these devastating revelations and compensation for those potentially exposed to harmful chemicals or the families of those who have passed on.