Recently 60 minutes Australia had a story about Corexit, a dispersant used widely in the oil industry around the world and has been found that when mixed with oil can be 60 times more toxic than the oil alone.
This dispersant is used in Australia.
According to Wikipedia, the makers of Corexit are associated with BP and Exxon. interesting to note that the Minister for Resources and Energy in Australia is the member for Brand, Gary Gray. Brand also has western Australians only oil refinery, run by BP.
I emailed the Honorable minister and put it to him that it could be perceived to be a conflict that his department allows for the use of a product that appears to have an investment into it by one of the largest employers in his electorate.
He didn't address that point in his reply. here is an exert.
NOPSEMA is reviewing, not the government.
OK we are in an election campaign, but surely the government can look at a policy in regards to this and potential legislation banning the use of this substance. but BP wouldn't like that....
note also that this reply was not a personal email, but a HTML fact sheet/press release on the subject. there was not even a salutation.