Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the member for Paterson's motion. This is a very important motion. It helps raise awareness of this issue around the nation and in this place. It is an ongoing issue of contamination of defence and aviation sites around Australia and the impact it is having on those that work on the defence and aviation sites, airports and the residents in and around those places. These particular contaminants or chemicals have been used for years on airports and RAAF bases. These particular substances have the ability to repel oil, grease and water. They have been used in the firefighting foams and chemicals that are used to combat fires. In addition, these foams containing these chemicals have been deployed on fires at traffic and railway accidents and even building fires. So it is not just in those areas but all over the metropolitan, country and rural areas as well.

The foams have been used for nearly 50 years on defence and civilian facilities and in airports in Australia due to their effectiveness in extinguishing liquid fuel fires. Firefighters train on airport facilities with these chemicals or used to train with these chemicals. Thankfully, these chemicals have now been more or less phased out from firefighting foams in Australia. However, these particular chemicals are biologically very stable and resist typical environmental degradation like other chemicals. They stay in the environment for many years and they do not degrade. Significant residual contaminants have been identified at many sites globally, for example, around 49,000 of the world's airports—civilian and military. In South Australia's case, there are three sites: The RAAF base at Edinburgh, Parafield Airport and in my electorate, the Adelaide Airport which is in the middle of the electorate. It is causing quite a bit of angst with residents in and around the electorate of the airport.

In December 2011, Defence added these chemicals to its routine environmental monitoring schedule particularly at facilities where firefighters may have been using them including at Edinburgh and Adelaide Airport. This was a welcome move as was the Senate inquiry into contamination of defence property and CFA training ground at Fiskville. The committee was chaired by Senator Gallacher and brought down its recommendations in November. However, we must remember that over the years many firefighters and workers on these airports were repeatedly exposed to these potentially toxic substances. It is not just firefighters who have been exposed to these chemicals but also support personnel and workers who perhaps are not firefighters but who were involved in working with these foams on and outside of the airports. These workers are not classified as professional firefighters, the ones who were working outside of airports, and are often overlooked. It is important that they also be included in any testing program or future management schemes around this issue.

In the first few weeks after I was re-elected, I was contacted by a constituent who raised his concerns about this very issue. This constituent is a retired firefighter, with 35 years of experience at Adelaide Airport. Many constituents, others and our former firefighters are asking for greater government commitment to develop and implement a testing and monitoring regime for these people. I understand that blood tests have been offered, but only on a voluntary basis. So many people have yet to be tested and may never be tested. It is necessary to fully understand the effects of these compounds on workers exposed to those chemicals.

These workers want answers. They want their concerns addressed and they want to be taken seriously. Many of them are firefighters and workers who have worked at Adelaide Airport. We all understand the monitoring of these substances is still in the early stages. There are many unknowns about the effects of the contamination and the exposure and the inconclusive results from animal testing, but it is precisely the fact that not enough is known that is causing angst with residents and workers. This is leading to fear and mental anguish issues for many involved, including their families.

It is our responsibility to ensure that they are monitored and that their workplaces are safe. We need to continue to monitor and research these sites in order to better understand the effects of the compounds on the workers exposed to the chemicals and, of course, if there is any exposure to the residents in and around the airport. The response to this problem has now been too slow, as we heard from the others. We need action now.

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