THE federal government has handballed responsibility for the perennial political hot potato - toxic firefighting foam contamination from Defence bases - to its new Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, Trevor Evans.
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The Brisbane MP responded to a series of questions from the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday that had been directed to everyone from Prime Minister Scott Morrison to Liberal leader in the Senate Mathias Cormann and Defence Minister Melissa Price.
Mr Evans emerged as the government's new spokesman on PFAS-related issues a day after it was revealed Liberal MP Andrew Laming, who chaired a parliamentary inquiry into the contamination scandal, had been removed from his position after controversially reporting in December findings in support of residents, at odds with the government.
In an emotional speech to parliament in December, Mr Laming described the stories of people whose lives have been blighted by PFAS contamination, including Williamtown red zone residents, as "graphic" and "horrifying".
In a shock departure from the Coalition's policies on PFAS contamination, he called on the federal government to compensate people whose property values have been devastated by the contamination.
The Newcastle Herald revealed this week that Mr Laming was not re-appointed to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade that held the inquiry and he is no longer chair of its PFAS sub-committee.
Mr Evans said the government was "aware and acting on community concerns" about PFAS exposure
He said it "welcomed" the findings of the parliamentary inquiry led by Mr Laming, a medical doctor.
"The government welcomes any opportunity to identify areas for improvement in managing PFAS contamination, and the committee's recommendations are currently under careful consideration and the government response will be released as soon as it is finalised," he said.
Mr Evans confirmed the government had appointed a new chair for the PFAS sub-committee to replace Mr Laming, Queensland MP John McVeigh.
His Groom electrorate covers Oakey, a major PFAS contamination site where residents have launched a class action lawsuit against the Department of Defence due to contamination from Oakey Army Aviation Base.
The new chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade is South Australian Senator David Fawcett.
Coalition Against PFAS president Lindsay Clout said PFAS-affected communities were on a "downhill slide".
"We've had the judge in the class action lawsuit taken away, we lost our court date, we've had blood testing taken away and now they've taken Andrew Laming away," he said.
"The class action was meant to be in court in August, but we haven't even been notified of a new court date."
