What ever happened to the Precautionary Principle?

Precautionary Principles are meant to exist in Australia and indeed WA, but do they exist in Kwinana?

‘When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context the proponent of an activity,
rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof. The process of applying the Precautionary Principle must be open, informed and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of
alternatives, including no action.’
- Wingspread Conference on the Precautionary
Principle, January, 1998

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And another view:

"Most people believe that if you have a toddler and an open staircase it makes sense to act in a cautionary way and place a gate across the staircase to avoid a child from falling.

The chemical industry would argue that investing in the gate may not be necessary and would argue for risk studies to determine how many toddlers would fall and how much harm would come from each tumble down the stairs.

Finally, the industry after finding that toddlers would likely fall and several toddlers are likely to be harmed, they’d argue that the investment in a gate is too much – overly cautious. They would suggest that inexpensive pillows at the bottom of the staircase would be ample protection".