Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

Gee, it's coming in thick and fast here today! This doesn't specifically relate to livestock per se, but, as you know, the contamination of Defence Force sites with respect to PFAS has been an issue that the Senate committees and this chamber have investigated over a long period of time. Across the world, PFAS is used widely in a range of different industries and contamination by PFAS is a global issue. We're aware of it, and we're acting on community concerns regarding the exposure to PFAS. Our priority is to support affected communities and to reduce their exposure to PFAS.

My advice is that the Department of Defence is working closely with the PFAS Taskforce in the Department of the Environment and Energy, which has the whole-of-government lead in responding to this issue. Angus Taylor's area and Minister Ley's area have the whole-of-government lead. Government action and investment to date has been extensive, including measures to support local communities affected by PFAS contamination. Our government has committed substantial resources to the investigation, remediation and monitoring of sites and will continue to invest as required. Each site is different, so there's no one-size-fits-all solution, and, while the full cost of PFAS investigation, remediation and monitoring measures is not known, it will be significant. Defence will hold four community information sessions during December 2019 to present the findings of our detailed— (Time expired)