An investigation into a matter of polluted water being used in vegetable production in the Hawkesbury area of North West Sydney led to an arrest of an Australia First Party member.
Tania Rollinson (below), the Australia First Party (AFP) candidate for Hawkesbury in the New South Wales poll of 2015, found herself removed from a site by police and informed she would be proceeded against for trespass.
Subsequently, a fine for $400 was forwarded by post. Mrs. Rollinson has informed us she will fight this fine and insisted that the correct verdict in any hearing would be ‘not guilty’.
The affair arose after a local person contacted Mrs. Rollinson – whom he had met during the campaign of 2015 – with information regarding a property in Mulgrave Road, Mulgrave. The person insisted that polluted water had been taken by pump from a creek by “Asian market gardeners” and used as irrigation for various crops. No information was forthcoming as to exactly where these products were being sold.
Mrs Rollinson was told by her source that a report had been made to the understaffed State Department of Primary Industries. It has been verified such a report exists and the investigation is “on-going”. The source further added, that “no license existed for taking water from South Creek, so clearly the water has been ‘stolen’.”
However, no final action had been taken despite “desist” orders being given to the market gardeners on different occasions over several months.
The source of the pollution is a matter of reasoned speculation. There is evidence that certain chemicals and possibly sewerage have entered the creek and that skin irritation has been caused to various persons as a result of water-contact.
Mrs. Rollinson investigated the South Creek area and other places adjacent and was detained by police leaving the area across railway property. It was in the public interest that she was there. The party commends her for her initiative and will support her in fighting any prosecution.