Blue sky bio-hazard

Posted by admin in Travel Articles on 12 4th, 2007 | no responses

Australia: blue skies, big open brown spaces, lots and lots of minerals and one, particularly nasty one…

Chrysotile was once mined to make asbestos - a popular, cheap housing material used in Australia in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Now, it’s widely known that asbestos is highly toxic and leads to nasty lung related diseases, including cancer.

The mine site was in Wittenoom; a town by the same name servicing the workers of what was a booming industry. But since discovering the hazardous effects of asbestos, Wittenoom’s been deserted. Situated in the Pilbara region in northern Western Australia the area still appeals to many travellers - and quite rightly. The gorges and waterfalls of nearby Karijini National Park are naturally spectacular.

Iconic 80s Australian rock band, Midnight Oil released the album Blue Sky Mining in 1987, featuring a track, Blue Sky Mine which cut to the core of the mining industry and made Wittenoom infamous. Its lyrics still resonate with miners and their families who’ve lobbied their incredibly wealthy ex-employers for justice and compensation to cover medical costs and damages.

“So I’m caught at the junction still waiting for medicine
The sweat of my brow keeps on

feeding the engine
Hope the crumbs in my pocket can keep me for another night…

And the company takes what the company wants
And nothing’s as precious
As a hole in the ground…”

Where as once curiosity may have seen you risk a side trip to Wittenoom it’s no longer possible. It doesn’t exist. It has been decommissioned, taken off the maps, the electricity - switched off.

So if you’re looking for somewhere to stay try the two campsites in Karijini National Park or the Auski Tourist Village on the Great Northern Highway

And in an interesting aside, if the Labor party (currently in opposition) wins government at the Australian election this weekend, then ex-Oils frontman, Peter Garrett (member for Kingsford Smith) will be the new Minister for the Environment. It will be interesting to see if he stays true to his activist roots.