Professor Anne Poelina addressed the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, Mr Marcos Orellana, during his visit to Australia in September 2023. She presented the content of our written submission to the United Nations, The Impact of Toxics on Indigenous Australian People, at the event, regarding the impacts of herbicides 2,4D and 2,4,5-T on young Kimberley Aboriginal men in the 1980s (see our latest documentary, On Australian Shores, Survivor Stories).
In his public End of Mission Statement, Mr Marcos Orellana states the following:
Respect for human rights is a critical step in healing open wounds of past environmental injustices. The loss of life resulting from exposure to hazardous pesticides, such as 2, 4-D distributed by the State Government in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the Kimberley region in the north of Western Australia, is still an open wound in the community’s memory
OHCHR Official Press Release
You can read the full press release of the UN Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights here.