Mark Bishop (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry, Procurement and Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madame Acting Deputy President, I rise this evening to deliver a three-week deadline to the Howard government. I am calling on the government to settle outstanding ex gratia claims for hundreds of sick and dying Air Force workers; I am giving the government until 1 September to do this.

Personnel who worked as desealer-resealers on the F111 aircraft have been left in limbo over their claims. These workers suffer a raft of illnesses, which they contracted after scraping toxic fuel from the aircrafts’ tanks; it was a dirty job. Now, the government is doing the dirty on them over the payments. It is refusing to process hundreds of their claims, 10 months after announcing a $21 million ex gratia package. Meanwhile, many of these workers are forced to live hand to mouth. The illnesses they suffer have left many unable to work. Some have even died. We cannot wait any longer. Indeed, it has been a five-year wait to get this far.

So why the wait? Let us look at the facts. Close on 35 years ago, hundreds of RAAF workers were employed as desealer-resealers. Their job was to clean out and make safe the fuel tanks of the Air Force’s F111 fighter aircraft. Most of this work was carried out at Amberley Air Base in Queensland. For years, civilian and RAAF personnel worked eight-hour shifts. They scrubbed inside the tight confines of a fuel tank, cleaning out—without any protective equipment—up to 200 toxic chemicals. This sludge was then taken to nearby pits where firefighters burnt it. It was gruelling work and hundreds of desealer-resealers were forced to work under huge canvas hangars. The hangars were to protect the F111s from the elements, but nothing protected the workers.

These chemicals were so toxic they would burn through the canvas hangars and the workers had to regularly change their cover. It was not long before they started experiencing all sorts of ailments. To this day, desealer-resealers suffer from memory loss, respiratory problems, skin conditions and a loss of cognitive skills. Sick and dying workers lobbied this government until finally it was forced to act. It commissioned two studies into the desealer-resealer participants’ health. These confirmed workers’ worst fears and backed up findings from a defence board of inquiry that the desealer-resealers were suffering permanent, long-term health effects associated with their work.

So last year, the government was forced to act. It set up a one-off, tax-free ex gratia payment. It fell short of making any apology to these workers. Instead it set up a convoluted scheme whereby ground crews exposed to the toxic chemicals for up to 29 days could claim a payment of $10,000 while those exposed for 30 days or more were offered $40,000. A day’s work means the difference of $30,000! More than 1,000 former desealer-resealers are claiming the ex gratia payment, but 10 long months later and hundreds of these workers are still waiting for their claim to be processed. Again, I ask: why has it taken so long?

Let us look at some of the claims that remain outstanding. I will give one example for each week of my deadline to the government. Here is the first one. As I stated earlier, one of the chores for these poor workers was to dispose of the toxic chemicals. This nasty task was left to the firefighters and instructors. They carried out their business around huge pits where they burnt off the chemicals. Whilst the instructors trained firefighters in this task, the firefighters carried out the work. All were exposed to the deadly chemicals. So why are dozens of instructors and firefighters still waiting for their claims to be processed? The rules of eligibility state quite clearly:

Firefighters whose usual place of duty was a Unit at RAAF Base Amberley and who spent at least 60 cumulative working days actively involved in the burning of by-products from the F-111 DSRS process during the period 1976 to 1994.

A simple qualifying test, yet many firefighters and instructors miss out. Unfortunately, they continue to suffer and some die.

Here is another example of government inertia over workers’ claims. These workers are commonly known as the rag hangars, those who worked under the huge canvas hangars protecting the aircraft. You would think that this group of desealers would be first cab off the rank to be granted the ex gratia payment. But I am told that many of these are also still waiting and, worse, some have been rejected outright. Why? Apparently, some of these workers were told they had ‘insufficient documentary evidence’ to successfully prosecute their claim. It is not enough to show that all the illnesses were associated with the work. It is also not enough that some had statutory declarations detailing when and where they worked and signed by independent witnesses.

Here is my final example of the government’s mishandling of this hapless ex gratia scheme. Many of the RAAF workers seeking this one-off payment worked in the sealant mixing hut. This was next to the deseal hangar. These workers now face mounting medical bills to pay for costly treatment. Yet again, the government has so far failed to honour its 10-month-old promise to give these people an ex gratia payment. Many simply do not know whether their claim has been accepted or rejected.

I concentrate on the ex gratia payment because these poor patient people face a minefield should they seek compensation. That is a battle many will attempt and I am unsure whether they will have the stamina—indeed the health—to succeed. I am also unsure whether the government will pity their plight and make long-term compensation more accessible. We are going to have to wait and see.

Tonight, I have shown how this government has sullied its reputation by playing dirty with workers who have paid a high price for their work. This ex gratia scheme stank from the minute the government announced it. It is as murky as mud. I am giving the government three weeks to come clean and finally, after nearly a whole year’s wait, process the claims of these desealer-resealers. I cannot wait for another life to be lost.