APRIL 10, 2019 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
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Toxic ‘time bomb’ fear By Benjamin Millar
Battlelines are drawn Professional wrestler Erika Reid will break out her best and boldest moves when she takes on an interstate rival this week. The Braybrook star will fight Perth’s Lena Kross for the first time at the Italian Sports Club of Werribee. The two women will feature as one of the main events in Battle Lines, presented by Showdown Wrestling. Reid said her beloved pet rat, Pixie, often accompanied her to wrestling events. She described wrestling as “like theatre, but fighting”. “People are like, ‘Wrestling’s so fake’, but it’s not – it’s hard to fake getting punched in the head,” she said. “With wrestling, I enjoy the creative outlet, I enjoy the character and I enjoy fighting – I think that’s lots of fun.” Reid said that her full wrestling character name – Dreamtime Voodoo Witch Erika Reid – demonstrated her pride in her indigenous heritage and hopes of being a role model for children and indigenous young people. Battle Lines will be held Saturday, April 13. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7.30pm show start. Tickets: adults $20, children $15. Bookings: bit.ly/2Vp7App
(Damjan Janevski)
Inner-west residents are demanding more urgency by authorities that regulate industrial waste companies following the latest toxic blaze. A massive chemical fire last Friday tore through a chemical waste plant in Campbellfield where a company had stockpiled more than double the 150,000 litres of waste for which it was licensed. The Environment Protection Authority had suspended Bradfield Industrial Service’s licence 15 days earlier and had inspected the premises the day before the fire. The fire re-ignited anxiety and anger in a community still dealing with the toxic fall-out from the August 30 Tottenham fire. Sue Vittori, from Friends of Cruickshank Park, said Friday’s incident confirmed that such “chemical time bombs” should not be located anywhere near residential areas. “It’s unbelievable that yet another toxic chemical warehouse has gone up … threatening the health of more Melbourne communities,” she said. “There needs to be a zero-tolerance policy for this land use in residential areas.” Brooklyn resident Carmen Largaiolli said the authorities tasked as watchdogs for the industry need to be better resourced and proactive. “There are so many cowboys out there doing the wrong thing, they need more people doing spot checks of industry – not just those who are registered, but at other locations as well,” she said. Ms Largaiolli said her family suffered respiratory issues in the wake of the Tottenham fire and she wanted to see much more focus on the human health impacts of such events. “Human health gets put on the backburner – all they do is tell us to go indoors and close the windows and I don’t think that’s good enough,” she said. “The Department of Health is focusing on hospital admissions, but if you go to a GP they are not going to report it.” Australian Workers’ Union secretary Ben Davis said the chemical waste industry was plagued by cowboy operators exploiting vulnerable workers. He said there needed to be greater transparency, including a public register of properties where chemical waste was stored and better tracking of waste to understand where it was being stockpiled. “We need a list of these sites and what each of them are licensed to hold,” he said.
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