The United Australia Party has committed to property buybacks for Williamtown residents affected by PFAS if it wins the federal election.
Senator Brian Burston unveiled his party's policy during a visit to the University of Newcastle, alongside his official confirmation of $4.7 million dollars in grant funding for the University's research into PFAS remediation.
The Senator's announcement reveals the party is promising to follow all recommendations made by the Inquiry into the management of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in and around Defence bases.
The party's policy includes the establishment of a fund, similar to an emergency relief fund, for property buybacks and remediation.
The former One Nation senator has long advocated for residents impacted by contamination.
In 2017 Senator Burston threatened to withdraw support for certain budget measures if the government didn't do more to support impacted residents, and last year called on the government to immediately implement a buyout program.
Brian Burston believes the government could have allocated funds for buybacks in the most recent budget, instead of committing $100 billion dollars to infrastructure projects.
"Those infrastructure projects over the forward estimates will take longer than the four years of those estimates and I believe the government could've allocated $20 billion dollars of that to a buyback scheme," he said.
"The estimate for buybacks throughout Australia of affected properties is around the $18 billion mark, so that would've resolved the issue instantly and still wouldn't have impacted on the infrastructure funding."
The United Australia Party is now the second minor party to commit to the Inquiry's recommendations following a commitment earlier this month by The Greens.
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| Image: ABC |
