Deputy Liberal leader and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop came to Williamtown on Thursday with a sympathetic ear but no answers for families caught up in the area’s contamination controversy.
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In the region to launch the campaign of Liberal Paterson candidate Karen Howard, Ms Bishop met with five Salt Ash residents for about 45 minutes in a meeting room at Newcastle Airport before embarking on a day of electorate visits and press calls.
Queried later about Williamtown contamination issues, Ms Bishop stuck steadfastly to a script, saying the government was waiting for the outcome of expert reviews into the health and environmental impacts of toxic chemicals that have leaked from the RAAF base into surrounding ground and surface water.
“I met with a number of the residents who are concerned about this issue and I will be continuing to work with my colleague, the Defence Minister Marise Payne, on this issue,” Ms Bishop told media while visiting the Varley Group factory at Tomago.
“There are a number of inquiries and reviews under way and I believe these expert reports should be able to be finalised and then we can consider what action can be taken.”
About 650 properties in the so-called red zone are affected by contamination from fire-fighting chemicals PFOS and PFOA, with residents advised not to drink bore water or eat locally grown food. Property values have plummeted and two waterways have been closed to fishing.
Despite making no promises, Ms Bishop impressed the small group of Salt Ash residents she met. One resident, Kim Smith, said she seemed “very genuine”.
The Minister took aim at state Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington. She accused Ms Washington of “petty politicking” over her call for Assistant Defence Minister Michael McCormack to be sacked over comments he made dismissing any link between between PFOS and PFOA and adverse human health effects.
Ms Washington said it was “disappointing that we have a senior government representative here with nothing else to offer to a community that is breaking”.
Ms Howard said the minister’s meeting with Salt Ash residents had been well-received.
“They very much appreciated the opportunity to share with the Foreign Minister their stories and their experiences and I know that the Foreign Minister will take them back to Canberra,” she said.
Ms Bishop praised Varley as an example of a traditional manufacturing firm that had embraced innovation.
“This is one of Australia’s great success stories, a 130-year-old family business still privately owned and a traditional engineering firm that has evolved into one of the most innovative firms carrying out a range of work and support for significant industries across Australia,” she said.
Ms Bishop said the company stood to benefit from the focus on domestic manufacturing in the government’s 20-year defence industry plan outlined in the recent budget.
This point was not lost on workers at the factory, with vehicle maker Peter Barnett using the opportunity to tell the minister the country needed to “start building more stuff here in Australia” (see video).
“We need more of this, mate. That's what you need to do for us, that's what we need,” he said.
To which Ms Bishop replied: “I couldn't agree more, that's why our defence industry plan is going to support businesses like this.”
Varley issued a statement thanking the minister for her visit and support for local manufacturing, “which faces increasing challenges; particularly from low cost alternatives which do not reinvest in their people and processes to ensure seamless through life support of their product, which is at the core of Varley’s vision and mission”.