Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ever since news broke that chemicals from legacy firefighting foam may have contaminated the areas surrounding RAAF Base Williamtown and the Oakey Army Aviation Centre, the Turnbull government has offered affected communities nothing but anxiety and uncertainty. Residents sit and wait for answers they are not sure will ever come from this government, and it seems that communities around the other 16 Defence sites currently being investigated are in for the same treatment: more delay, more waiting and more silence from this government.

It was Labor that initiated the Senate inquiry into contamination at Defence and other Commonwealth sites. It was Labor that developed a comprehensive policy response to the issue, and it was the Turnbull government that copied it. It was Labor that led on establishing an intergovernmental task force to coordinate a consistent response across the country. It was Labor that led on offering blood tests for residents. It was Labor that offered the financial assistance needed to keep Williamtown fishers fishing. And what do we get from those opposite? Nada. Not one of the Turnbull government's three Defence ministers has managed so much as a word on PFAS contamination—nothing. Communities right around the country are facing uncertainty. They should not be left to suffer in the Turnbull government's silence. Labor lead because we know silence is not a solution. Silence is not leadership.