Peter Garrett Quotes
What generally happens in this county is that our politicians don't serve us well because they don't tell the truth, and they don't keep their promises.
Garrett, Peter. Big Blue Sky: A Memoir. Allen & Unwin, 2015.
Despite huge lobbying and political pressure, Dr. Kelsey would not sign off on the drug initially because she found information on her own about Thalidomide that the company, Merrell, must have known about and didn't reveal to her and her staff or in their applications. She was aware that the drug had been approved by England, Canada, and many nations of Europe, but she saw little data in the Merrell submissions and responses and that made her suspicious, and caused her to demand more. During the time the company was to submit more data, the reports of the deformed newborns were starting to come in from the countries that had approved the drug. When she gathered that information, she rejected the application and prevented thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of children to be born with missing limbs because their mothers had been treated with Thalidomide. In 1962 she was awarded the highest civilian medal by President John F. Kennedy.
In 1915 the Balkans was contorted by War and political intrigue. Serbia in particular was totally unrealistic about making any concessions to Bulgaria. Grey and his associates tried to explain the realities to the Serbian Ambassador who, before the British could articulate the whole situation, told them that he and the rest of the Serbian leadership would rather die than give up any territory. Grey later observed :
Peter Robert Garrett AM is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician.
