Water for Mulga Bore school
Posted by Campbell on | March 9, 2008
Ms Jenny Macklin MP
Minister for Indigenous Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Ms Macklin,
Re. Water for Mulga Bore school
Firstly, congratulations on the Government’s historic Motion of Apology to Indigenous Peoples. Congratulations too on the Government’s commitment to close the gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians in areas such as life expectancy, education achievement and employment opportunities. I welcomed these with all my heart
Today I am writing to you about the water-quality crisis at the school at Mulga Bore in the Northern Territory. According to a report in The Age on February 28, the school is closed because they have no water. According to the report, “drinking water pumped from two bores is so severely contaminated with nitrates that young children, babies and pregnant mothers are at serious risk […] Mulga Bore’s nitrate levels are 1½ times greater than World Health Organisation standards for developing countries.”
It is almost unimaginable that a school here in Australia has been closed because of a lack of drinkable water. It is an image straight out of the third world. Both the symbolism, and the reality of its impact on the life expectancy, education achievement and employment opportunities of the children of Mulga Bore, must be devastating.
Are you aware of the situation at Mulga Bore? What is being done about it?
I would urge you to do all that you can to bring about a speedy reopening of the school at Mulga Bore and to ensure its long-term success.
Sincerely yours
Campbell
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