The Australian Women's Register

Siobhan McHugh conducted these interviews while researching the book ‘Cottoning On’. The book is about the development of the cotton industry in New South Wales and the changes it has brought to the community and the landscape. It investigates, in particular, the effects of pesticides and cotton growing on the environment. MLOH 461/1-2 Interview with Harvey Baker, Environmental Director of the Australian Cotton Foundation MLOH 461/3 Interview with Pearl Davern, former cotton chipper MLOH 461/4 Interviews with Dr. Kate Short, environmentalist and member of the community watchdog organisation National Toxics Network, and Marg Mercer and Jan Douglas, both Gunnedah residents MLOH 461/5 Interview with Roger Toffolon, Registrar of Chemicals in New South Wales MLMSS 8533 This collection contains manuscript drafts of selected chapters, with annotations; letters from Gunnedah residents relating to the effect of spray drift on health; notes, newsclippings and ephemera relating to the book ‘Cottoning On: Stories of Australian Cotton-growing’; and slides produced by the Australian Cotton Foundation, entitled ‘Natural Threads’.