Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—There was some confusion as to the order of speaking and I was caught unaware, so thank you very much to my colleagues for this opportunity to speak very briefly on this important issue. I commend Senator Burston for raising the groundwater contamination issue with his motion.

Many hundreds of people have felt abandoned by our defence forces because there has not been an adequate system or adequate processes to assess the issue of groundwater contamination arising out of firefighting foam contamination at RAAF Base Williamtown in New South Wales and the Oakey Army Aviation Centre in Queensland. Indeed, there are rising concerns over groundwater contamination in Adelaide's north at the RAAF Base Edinburgh.

Back in May of this year I visited Oakey in Queensland along with the candidate for the NXT for the seat of Groom, Josie Townsend, who put up a terrific fight for that seat, as well as the Senate candidates for NXT in Queensland, Dr Suzanne Grant and Daniel Crow. There were very serious concerns in Oakey. We were talking to residents—people whose property values had plummeted and people whose properties were virtually worthless and unsaleable because of the concerns about groundwater contamination.

Clearly, the work of the Senate committee in relation to this in the previous parliament was absolutely critical. I commend those who worked on that, including, I note, Senator Gallacher from my home state of South Australia. They did valuable work in relation to that committee.

All I think needs to be said at this stage is that there must be expedited environmental investigations into the impact of this firefighting foam, there must be an opportunity for people to be allowed to have blood tests without any cost to themselves in relation to this, there must be soil testing—not just the surface soil but deeper than that—and there also must be testing in relation to the groundwater on a regular basis so that there can be some longitudinal tests with respect to this. I think it is important that we also look at the issue of land remediation and relocation, because the stress of the people that I spoke to in Oakey and the concerns we have in the north of Adelaide are very real.

I am not blaming Defence in this regard; the risks involved with this firefighting foam were obviously not known to Defence at the time. I presume they were not known, but we now know that this firefighting foam can be carcinogenic, can cause contamination of land and water, and above all poses a real and significant risk to human health. That is why there is an obligation on the part of Defence to ensure that there is ongoing monitoring of this; that, if there is evidence of contamination of land, either remediation is offered or, more importantly, compensation for the loss of the value of that land, or indeed if that land is no longer able to be sold because of that contamination; and, above all, ongoing monitoring of the risk to human health, particularly to young children. A number of residents of Oakey spoke to me and are concerned about the impact on the health of their children and their families because of the contamination by these toxins. I understand in the United States there have been significant class actions launched with respect to these contaminants.

This is an important motion moved by Senator Burston. I am very happy to work with Senator Burston on this issue because these people deserve certainty rather than the real concerns they have about this. There needs to be an approach by Defence that is comprehensive rather than piecemeal so that we can address these very significant issues. If we do not, the health of individuals will continue to be affected in an emotional and psychological sense. More importantly, there must be a proper assessment of their physical wellbeing. It is something that Defence will need to deal with for many years because the leaching of these toxins into groundwater a fair distance from the original source—from ground zero, if you like—needs to be monitored in a very responsible way. This is an issue that I presume Senator Burston will take up in Senate estimates next week, so I look forward to joining him at that time so that we can get answers, not just for the residents of Oakey and Williamtown but also for those near the Edinburgh Air Force base in South Australia. Thank you very much for your indulgence.