Environment Minister welcomes national summit to discuss giving States and Territories greater powers to deal with Commonwealth contamination

Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles has applauded a Commonwealth decision to address environmental and health concerns about Federal laws dealing with contamination on land currently or previously owned by the Australian Government.

Dr Miles said the Commonwealth had today announced a special summit would be held in Victoria early next year to help develop “nationally consistent standards for environmental contamination”.

The announcement – at Sydney’s Meeting of Environment Ministers – came two days after Dr Miles raised concerns about the impacts from contamination on Commonwealth sites on Queensland’s communities and businesses.

“The contamination of current or former Commonwealth–owned sites in Queensland is well documented, and it is a fact that Queensland’s environment department faces significant challenges in managing environmental problems that occur on or around these Commonwealth-owned lands,” Dr Miles said.

“These challenges are particularly evident when contamination issues affect neighbouring areas and communities. These are areas for which State agencies would normally have powers.

“The Federal Government has ultimate responsibility for PFAS contamination at Defence sites and civilian airports, and also off-site where contamination is likely to have extended beyond site boundaries.

“At present these Commonwealth sites are effectively out-of-bounds for state environment departments, and I certainly welcome the decision made today to stage the summit in Victoria,” he said.

Dr Miles wrote to Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg about this issue earlier this year.

“I share the concerns of many Queenslanders about the ongoing issue of contamination at Defence sites and civilian airports and its potential to affect health and the environment,” he said.

“There is an urgent need to resolve these challenges so that we can protect the community, and the environment.

“It would make sense for the Commonwealth to remove the legal barriers and allow us to make use of our expertise, and our resources, to protect these communities,” he said.

Dr Miles said Ministers also acknowledged at the roundtable the challenges of managing PFAS contamination and agreed to work more closely, including in the timely communication of information to the public and around ensuring that regulatory approaches are aligned and effective.

The Palaszczuk Government has acted to restrict the supply and installation of PFAS substances at the centre of the current issue of contamination from defence and civilian airports across Australia.

A ban brought into place in July this year required that any existing stocks of foams at commercial and industrial premises containing perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), the compound of most concern, were withdrawn from service as soon as possible.

The ban also required that firefighting foams containing related PFAS substances were phased out and replaced as soon as practicable with more sustainable alternatives.

ENDS

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