Monday, 1 April 2019
Australian Greens Disability Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has supported calls by Thalidomide Group Australia flagging the urgent need for compensation to form part of tomorrow's federal budget.
Thalidomide Group Australia spokesperson Lisa McManus said:
"The government must take this opportunity to deliver justice for my community; If compensation is not included in the budget it will be absolutely devastating for survivors."
Senator Steele-John said:
"The government no longer has any excuse to ignore the needs of Thalidomide survivors, given a recent inquiry comprehensivley recommended immediate compensation to ensure their ongoing and complex medical needs can be met into the future.
"It's been more than 50 years since Australia's - indeed the world's - worst pharmaceutical disaster and what we now know, without a shadow of a doubt, is that the Australian government had a hand in prolonging the impacts of that disaster.
"Tomorrow the Treasurer will deliver a budget with that knowledge in hand. Anything less than the necessary and reasonable compensation being asked for will be yet another failure by government to do the right thing by Thalidomide survivors."
