Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Thorpe, I move:

(1) That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), be established to inquire into the extent, regulation and management of PFAS, with particular reference to:

(a) the extent of data collection on PFAS contamination of water, soil and other natural resources;

(b) sources of exposure to PFAS, including through environmental contamination, food systems and consumer goods;

(c) the health, environmental, social, cultural and economic impacts of PFAS;

(d) challenges around conducting and coordinating health and exposure research into PFAS, including the adequacy of funding arrangements and the influence of the chemicals industry over the evolving body of scientific evidence on the health effects of PFAS, including in respect to First Nations communities;

(e) the effectiveness of current and proposed federal and state and territory regulatory frameworks, including the adequacy of health based guidance values, public sector resourcing and coordination amongst relevant agencies in preventing, controlling and managing the risks of PFAS to human health and the environment;

(f) the role, liability and responsibility of government agencies and industry in the production, distribution, contamination and remediation of PFAS, including obligations under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and other relevant principles and international conventions;

(g) international best practices for the environmentally sound management and safe disposal of PFAS;

(h) the adequacy and effectiveness of government engagement with and support for communities disproportionately affected by PFAS contamination, including fair and appropriate compensation schemes;

(i) the effectiveness of remediation works on specific sites and international best practices for remediation and management of contaminated sites;

(j) international best practices for environmental and health risk assessments, reduction and management of PFAS contamination and exposure;

(k) areas for reform, including legislative, regulatory, public health and other policy measures to prevent, control and manage the risks of PFAS to human health and the environment, including the phasing out of these harmful substances; and

(l) any other related matters.

(2) That the committee present its final report on or before 5 August 2025.

(3) That the committee consist of 6 senators, as follows:

(a) two nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate;

(b) two nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate;

(c) Senator Thorpe; and

(d) one nominated by the Leader of the Australian Greens in the Senate.

(4) That:

(a) participating members may be appointed to the committee on the nomination of the Leader of the Government in the Senate, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate or any minority party or independent senator; and

(b) participating members may participate in hearings of evidence and deliberations of the committee, and have all the rights of members of the committee, but may not vote on any questions before the committee; and

(c) a participating member shall be taken to be a member of a committee for the purpose of forming a quorum of the committee if 3 members of the committee are not present.

(5) That 3 members of the committee constitute a quorum of the committee, provided that in any meeting of the committee, the quorum shall include one member nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, one member nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, and one member nominated by the Leader of the Australian Greens in the Senate or Senator Thorpe.

(6) That the committee may proceed to the dispatch of business notwithstanding that all members have not been duly nominated and appointed and notwithstanding any vacancy.

(7) That the committee elect as chair Senator Thorpe and, as deputy chair, a member nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

(8) That the deputy chair shall act as chair when the chair is absent from a meeting of the committee or the position of chair is temporarily vacant.

(9) That the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, may appoint another member of the committee to act as chair during the temporary absence of both the chair and deputy chair at a meeting of the committee.

(10) That, in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote.

(11) That the committee have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of 3 or more of its members, and to refer to any such subcommittee any of the matters which the committee is empowered to consider.

(12) That the committee and any subcommittee have power to send for and examine persons and documents, to move from place to place, to sit in public or in private, notwithstanding any prorogation of the Parliament or dissolution of the House of Representatives, and have leave to report from time to time its proceedings and the evidence taken and such interim recommendations as it may deem fit.

(13) That the committee be provided with all necessary staff, facilities and resources and be empowered to appoint persons with specialist knowledge for the purposes of the committee with the approval of the President.

(14) That the committee be empowered to print from day to day such papers and evidence as may be ordered by it, and a daily Hansard be published of such proceedings as take place in public.

Question agreed to.