Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to put Labor's voice on the record here. I was the deputy chair of that committee and I certainly echo the sentiments of Senator Faruqi in the call to the government to respond. All the families in the communities that we held hearings in for this inquiry—from the people of Katherine to Oakey in Queensland to the Newcastle region and here again in Canberra—deserve the respect of this parliament with a response. It is absolutely disgraceful that it is nearly 12 months since there was a response from this government. I remind the parliament of some of the recommendations:

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government appoint a Coordinator-General to coordinate the national response to the PFAS contamination issue, supported by an appropriately resourced office.

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The Committee recommends that the Australian Government review its existing advice in relation to the human health effects of PFAS exposure, including to acknowledge the potential links to certain medical conditions.

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The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, as soon as possible, undertake measures to improve participation in the voluntary blood testing program for PFAS. This should include measures to:

These are critical recommendations that this government has failed to act on, and it has failed to give due respect to all the families and communities who came forward in the sincere hope that our parliament would act. We certainly echo the call for the government to move on this. There is another PFAS subcommittee that will be looking into this going forward, but there will be no credibility if there hasn't been a response from the government.

Question agreed to.