THE details are yet to be thrashed out, but the Commonwealth Government's in-principle agreement to settle the Williamtown, Oakey and Tindal RAAF base contamination class actions is a long overdue concession.
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From late 2015, when the authorities finally acknowledged their long-held concerns over the spread of firefighting foam from the Williamtown base, there was no denial that the contamination had occurred, or that per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) held potential risks to human health: hence the sudden bans on fishing and agriculture, and the Williamtown "red zone".
Even so, the residents soon realised it would be a tooth-and-nail fight to lever compensation from Canberra, which was ultimately responsible for the contamination at all three bases.
Williamtown residents began their class action soon after the PFAS threat emerged. Even so, it has taken four years - and this week's two days of mediation - to achieve the pre-trial settlement.
The government's apparent back-flip on compensation might be genuine compassion, but it can also be seen as more proof of the growing power of class actions in the Australian legal system.
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Exposure of widespread underpayment by big employers has been significantly driven by class action firms, using specialist "litigation funders" for the millions of dollars needed to run "no win, no fee" cases involving hundreds or even thousands of litigants.
Weighing up the costs, many respondents settle the cases against them before the evidence can be heard at trial.
This, and the substantial share of any settlement that goes to the lawyers and their bankers, has left class actions with a controversial history.
But for the residents of Williamtown, Oakey and Katherine (Tindal RAAF), the class action lawyers have made all the difference.
Indeed, the class action victory has already drawn comparisons with the 20-year PFAS battle against Dupont in Parkersberg, West Virginia, the subject of a recently released Hollywood thriller, Dark Waters.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said after the settlement that Defence "sees itself as part of the fabric of these communities".
Maybe so, but the residents who gained this result by taking matters into their own hands are more likely to view Defence as an intruder who spilt a toxic cocktail on the fabric and tried to hide it, rather than a long-lost friend, suddenly returned.
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