Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] On 25 August, the Australian Registered Cattle Breeders Association, ARCBA, wrote to all parliamentarians to highlight the failure of the Liberal, National and Labor parties in resolving PFAS contamination from defence bases. The ARCBA is the peak body representing most cattle breeders in Australia, and this is a national issue. The European Commission have now set a safe level for PFAS of just 4.6 nanograms per kilogram because they know anything above that causes harm to humans and cattle. Yet cattle in the red zones near defence bases are routinely returning PFAS levels of 400 nanograms and as high as 1,400 nanograms per kilo. A recent Federal Court case awarded compensation to some residents of these red zones, about $115,000 per property, which is a tiny part of what residents have lost. Food Standards Australia New Zealand are conducting a review of PFAS which must implement a safe level to match the European standard. I understand that a major barrier to the signing of free trade agreements with the UK and the EU is food safety concerns, including potential PFAS contamination in our red meat.

Once mandatory standards are introduced, what will become of the red meat industry in these areas? The only fair response is to offer residents compensation and like-for-like relocation to a similar property in a clean area where they can get on with raising healthy cattle to feed Australia and the world. Then the government must invest in remediation facilities to clean the groundwater and prevent the fumes spreading and infecting more residents. Defence is looking after itself, having installed four of these facilities inside defence bases, and yet residents in the red zones are apparently not important to this parliament. (Time expired)