Gulf Veterans Must Get Blood Tests Mark Bishop - Shadow Minister for Veterans Affairs, Shadow Minister for Customs

Media Statement - 16 January 2004

Australian Gulf War veterans from the 1991 Gulf and subsequent deployments must be given blood tests and check ups to test the effects of vaccinations, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs Senator Mark Bishop said today.

Recent British findings that vaccinations in combination for anthrax, tetanus, yellow fever, typhoid, hepatitis, cholera, meningitis, pertussis and plague may have long term implications for UK troops, needs to be heeded by the Howard Government.

This matter has been covered up for too long and we know there are Australians suffering the same symptoms.

We know that a number of Australian troops in the 1991 Gulf deployment were vaccinated with a cocktail of drugs. We know too that they are now sick people – but the Government has washed its hands.

This particularly applies to those who served with UK and US forces.

It also applies to those who were trained to go on Operation Blazer, an UNSCO exercise to investigate the existence of weapons of mass destruction, but which was cancelled.

Any others with the same fears should also be considered with care.

These people still have their vaccination records. They can prove they were injected for anthrax. The Department of Veterans' Affairs is on the record as admitting such – but still the denial continues.

It is simply about time the Howard Government came clean and showed these people some care.

These veterans and serving personnel who are clearly sick people, and who believe that the vaccinations they were given are the cause, must all have their records revealed, and full medicals undertaken including complete blood screening.