The federal government has failed to explain why it denied a request to produce documents that would show what activities its PFAS taskforce has undertaken.
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The government established the interdepartmental taskforce in an attempt to provide a whole-of-government response to the unfolding contamination crisis at RAAF bases across Australia, including Williamtown, Oakey and Katherine.
In a motion passed in May, One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts called for the government to produce minutes of the taskforce's past three meetings.
The government failed to produce the documents by last Wednesday's deadline.
"PFAS contamination on air force bases in Australia has destroyed the lives of those bordering the bases, yet the supposed plan to help these residents is being kept secret," Senator Roberts said.
"On behalf of the residents I want to know what meetings are happening, who is attending and what actions are being agreed upon to help these people."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment, which coordinates the taskforce, was unable to explain why the meeting minutes had not been provided.
"The response to Senator Roberts' motion is a matter for the Senate and it would not be appropriate for the department to comment," she said.
Senator Roberts said One Nation was committed to achieving like-for-like relocation of residents in the red zones across Australia, and fair compensation for affected businesses.
"Instead of fair compensation for residents the government is forcing red zone residents into court where their settlements are feeding lawyers instead of families," he said.
"PFAS has been a known problem for over 15 years and the ongoing refusal to release documents that give residents confidence of a resolution, suggests the Minister is hiding something," Senator Roberts said.
He said the latest Williamtown plume data showed the PFAS contamination was heading south-east and was only 50 metres from the Hunter River at Fern Bay.
"An effective strategy would be to pipe the groundwater back to the RAAF base and use the PFAS treatment plant they have built there to clean that water," Senator Roberts said.
"The government must stop the delays and provide like-for-like remediation and fair compensation for affected residents immediately."