No Ship at Avoca

April 12  2011
 
NO SHIP Action Group filed an 11th-hour summons at 4pm today to stop the ex-HMAS Adelaide being scuttled off Avoca Beach tomorrow morning.

Citing last-minute evidence pertaining to the breaking up of the ex-HMAS Canberra off the coast of Victoria near Geelong, the group filed a summons addressed to State Minister for Primary Industries and Minister for Environment at the Land and Environment Court.
 
The latest evidence was received via Freedom of Information documents on Friday afternoon. It shows the Victorian ship, which is an identical sister ship to the ex-HMAS Adelaide, has broken up largely because of corrosion inherently caused by the ship’s structure.

Additionally, the ex-HMAS Adelaide’s 23000 sq m of lead paint has not been tested for toxic PCBs despite numerous requests.
 
“Will Premier O'Farrell respect the court system and allow the Land and Environment Court time to decide the rights and wrongs of sinking this warship?,” a No Ship spokesperson said.

“What is wrong with waiting and letting the court decide. There are serious concerns here.
 
"What is one week of waiting, compared to two hundred years of pollution washing up on our beaches.”

Friday's FOI documents follow on from a $4000 report the community group received on Monday last week from a US marine engineer outlining why the ship in Victoria is breaking up so quickly.

“It turns out these frigates are the wrong type of ship to scuttle,” the NSAG spokesperson said.
 
“We are loathe to lodge the summons at this late and criticial stage but we had no choice. This corrosion must be looked at. We truly thought Barry O'Farrell and the Liberals meant a fresh wave of accountable, clean Governance."  

"We are asking Mr O'Farrell to let the court be the umpire.”
 
Last year the community spent nearly $70,000 on a legal case against the NSW State Government, which spent about $1 million of taxpayers’ money fighting the residents of Avoca Beach. 

Media inquiries: Michelle Meares 0439 645 372