‘I know you have been unnecessarily ostracised by certain ill informed members of the Community and for this I apologise.’
Alderman Allen Rose from the West Coast Council has given a public and personal apology to several Rosebery residents who have been octracised and abused by other Rosebery residents, as a result of their speaking out about heavy metal poisoning in the town.
The apology appeared in the latest January 2011 edition of the West Coast Bulletin.
On behalf of those many people who have been victimised for speaking out, we gratefully accept and commend Alderman’s Rose’s for his courageous apology and hope that as a result of his public comments he does not also suffer any discrimination.
“To Juanita, Jamie, Kay, Lindsay, Marsha and the countless others that have had to take legal action to have their concerns addressed, I know it must be difficult and in the words of Premier David Bartlett when attending the opening of mine expansions on the West Coast, the Court Process will have to be the final adjudicator. I know you have been unnecessarily ostracised by certain ill informed members of the Community and for this I apologise – you have every right in this democratic country to exercise your beliefs. I can’t help but think back to the film ‘Erin Brochovich’ showing a community divided. I hope we can use commonsense and sort through this responsibly. The West Coast of Tasmania is a special place and we need to work together to keep it that way”.
