Agent Orange killed Aborigines
The week's news at a glance.
Derby, Australia
The state of Western Australia admitted last week that its weed-killing program killed or sickened dozens of Aborigines in the 1970s and 1980s. The state initiated the program as a way to provide employment for the poverty-stricken Aborigines, as well as to get rid of invasive species of weeds in the wilderness region. But the herbicide the workers used contained one of the main ingredients of Agent Orange, the toxic substance the U.S. Army used to clear forests in Vietnam. “It’s pretty horrifying,” Western Australian Agriculture Minister Kim Chance told the London Observer. “They were getting bathed in this crap all day.” At least 24 of the workers, many in their 20s and 30s, died of herbicide-related illnesses. The weeds grew back in a few years.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published