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Wednesday May 23, 2012

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Hinch speaks up for us 'mushrooms'

Posted by: Derryn Hinch | 13 January, 2012 - 4:25 PM
Mushrooms

Hello, mushrooms! That's what we are. Mushrooms. Kept in the dark and fed bullshit. In politics state and federal, by politicians, government departments and media spruikers. Being a Spin Doctor is one of the fastest-growing professions.

Health departments do it to our detriment and risk your safety. Police often do it – by delaying the release of crime info often for weeks. And they claim it's 'operational procedures'. There was the case of the taxi driver stabbed in the neck with a syringe last Saturday night. I think police media finally put out a description on Tuesday.

It's epidemic. There was the case I tried to get to the bottom of this week. The salmonella outbreak in Ballarat. It possibly caused the death of one man. The Health Department closed the restaurant in December but didn't name it as Rizzo's until the place was cleared to re-open the other day.

If you'd eaten there and got sick around that time weren't you entitled to know? Maybe go to the doctor as a precaution?

The Herald Sun has a special investigation on this issue today. The series by Fiona Hudson claims that a food poisoning outbreak at a sushi bar left more than 80 people sick and 19 in hospital but it was kept quiet by authorities. Hello mushrooms.

And she provides evidence of how councils routinely cover up such outbreaks. All of this despite new food safety laws brought in in 2010 that were supposed to make our system 'best practice'.

We've had national cases of botulism in the past where health authorities have seemed more intent on protecting a company's reputation than getting the world out to the public. Money before morality.

Any reputable company, deserving of your patronage, should be on the front foot recalling their product and shouting it from the rooftops to their valued customers.

This veil of secrecy, ignoring and preventing your right to know, has gone on for years but it is getting worse.

I remember the Broughton Hall case back in 2007. The nursing home run by Benetas, an arm of the Anglican Church. 

They had a salmonella outbreak. People were dying from food poisoning and collapsing from dehydration and gastro-enteritis. Four old people died and 20 were hospitalised. Nobody called emergency. The then-Health Minister Bronwyn Pike didn't find out for days and families of the elderly weren't told anything. Hello mushrooms.

Other nursing homes have gone into lockdown and families kept in the dark as to why.

That same year, 2007, there was the nachos scandal. A batch of Nachos to Go contained the deadly botulism. A Melbourne man was paralysed and hospitalised after eating the nachos at work one day in January. The batch had a use-by date of April. No public warning was issued until mid-February.

The list is endless. There was the Pap Smear scandal 10 years ago. I was threatened with three months jail after defying an Administrative Appeals Tribunal suppression order and naming a company called GDL – General Diagnositics Laboratories.

They were so sloppy that the Federal Government had cancelled their Medicare accreditation.

The Herald Sun had a huge Page One story about this Melbourne laboratory that had got lots of positive and negative tests mixed up. It affected thousands of female patients. But the paper didn't name the company. In damage control, forget about the anxiety and health of thousands of women, GSL had gone to court and got a suppression order.

As I said at the time: Any business with a credible crisis management policy would have gone public. Would have set up a 1-800 number. Would have alerted all subscribing doctors and through them thousands of female patients. Would have said sorry.

Again and again it is 'cover your arse' time. And you the public are told as little as possible as late as possible. Kept in the dark and fed bullshit. Hello, mushrooms.

Dodgy food being covered up?

Fast Food. It's been revealed the Victorian public is routinely kept in the dark about food poisoning outbreaks, affecting scores of people. View an image sent to us of some very dodgy meat for sale at... Click on the image on the right for more on this story, including audio from 3AW Breakfast.

Blog comments Your Say

  • Gideon, Stay in your cave>!!

    Steve Wednesday 18 January, 2012 - 6:16 PM

  • When is the Government going to be HONEST, Answer NEVER.
    Mentak Health are going to go ahead and build on a site that is far from being safe and more and more people will fall ill but the Gov of today will be long gone so they do not give a stuff who dies as long as they collect their fat pensions

    Colin M Gibbons Monday 16 January, 2012 - 8:07 AM

  • Derryn
    After our conversation on Friday, I heard a so called Offical state that they dug down 50 ft and placed plastic there B/S this was never done and a Nurse I know wants to speak out but they have been told that if they do they lose their jobs as have other staff. This is a huge cover up and now other residents have approached me and stated this.
    if work cover were to do core samples they would find extensive amounts of ASBESTOS but they will not do this as they know that if they do the law suits will begin.
    all we want is to have Mental health pay our expenses to be checked as to see a specialist is $400.00.
    why wont they come clean???

    Colin M Gibbons Sunday 15 January, 2012 - 10:12 AM

  • It is not just government bureaucracies that are lying by omission in Murdochcracy and Lobbyocracy Australia where Big Money buys popular perception and votes (Murdochracy) and Big Money buys politicians, parties and policy (Lobbyocracy, neo-fascism, corporatism). For a glimpse of this appalling scandal simply Google "Mainstream media lying" and "ABC censorship".

    Dr Gideon Polya Sunday 15 January, 2012 - 8:18 AM

  • I have complained for years about the Whitehorse Council's monitoring food outlets, especially those in Box Hill Central (the sushi bar) but no one would listen... it was only a matter of time. I have asked for a "Name and Shame" register like that in NSW and asked that the Victorian Government provide better, more centalized responses to "out-breaks"... all seems to have fallen on deaf-ears! Everyone should ring their local member and complain. We need action NOW not after more people get sick or die.

    Perfect Friday 13 January, 2012 - 10:18 PM

  • Derryn,
    Please please please be Australias next Primeminister, the people of this country needs you!

    Kerrie Friday 13 January, 2012 - 6:54 PM

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