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When it comes to avoidable human mortality involving Australian complicity, all Australia is determinedly "looking the other way", "we know nothing" – EXCEPT for Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert.
On Wednesday 1 March 2006, Senator Rachel Siewert (Greens, Western Australia) made an extraordinary speech to the Australian Senate about the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) scandal (reported in Hansard, Senate, Wednesday 1 March 2006, pp30-31; see http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/dailys/ds010306.pdf). She addressed the human cost of the AWB scandal in terms of "Iraqi lives lost".
Senator Siewert provided detailed, quantitative estimates that prevention of the illegal AWB diversion of US$225 million from the UN Oil-for-Food Program into kick-backs for the Saddam Hussein régime could have saved 21,000 Iraqi infant lives.
Senator Siewert further estimated that prevention of the diversion of A$45 million dollars for bogus transport payments from A$100 million given by AusAID for wheat shipments "would have saved 2,471 Iraqi children" and that the A$1 million paid to a top AWB executive for facilitating Australian wheat sales "would have saved the lives of 55 Iraqi children".
Senator Siewert declared " Australian incompetence has resulted in the deaths of at least 21,000 people. Australia should hang its head in shame that we failed to pick up this ongoing problem."
As far as this correspondent knows, this very important story has simply NOT been reported by Australian mainstream media (as of Wednesday 8 March 2006).
For other Australian involvements in avoidable mass mortality that are simply NOT reported by Australian mainstream media see: http://www.newsvine.com/mortality.
