Liberal Blame Game Starts Over Loss Of Paterson

BY IAN CROUCH

 The finger pointing has begun over the Liberal Party's poor showing in the seat of Paterson in the federal election.

Liberal candidate Karen Howard suffered a massive 11 per cent swing against her.

It's raised questions within the party as to why former MP, Bob Baldwin and his supporters didn't help the campaign.

However, he says Karen Howard wanted to run her own campaign.and he respected her decision.

The Williamtown RAAF Base contamination and the proposed amalgamation of Newcastle and Ports Stephens Councils are also being blamed for the poor result.

Karen Howard

Bob Baldwin

$15 million for Testers Hollow

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A re-elected Turnbull government will commit $15 million to elevating Cessnock Road at Testers Hollow.

Minister for Major Projects Paul Fletcher alongside Liberal Candidate for Paterson Karen Howard, announced this morning that the funding is available and will cover 80 per-cent of the full cost of the project.

The minister says he is confident the funding will successfully mitigate flood risk in the area.

"The flood events of the kind that we saw last year will be very much mitigated. This is a plan so that residents, for example here in Gillieston Heights, won't face the same risk of being cut off for several days as occurred last year."

The growing suburb of Gillieston Heights was cut off for six days after devastating floods left them isolated in April last year.

"I want to emphasise, every commitment we make falls within our overall plan and our budgetary commitments. This commitment that we're making today, this commitment to spend $15 million in elevating Cessnock Road at Testers Hollow meets and fits within our overall plan."

Government Promises Review of PFOS & PFOA Guidelines

BY IAN CROUCH

 The Turnbull government is promising to conduct an independent review into safe drinking water levels at Williamtown if re-elected.

It comes after a federal government committee called EnHealth established new safe drinking levels for areas affected by PFOS and PFOA 78 times higher than advisory levels set this year in the United States.


The advice is based on European guidelines set in 2008 but reviewed in 2012.

Liberal candidate for Paterson, Karen Howard says the disparity between the European and U.S guidelines means an independent review is needed and the Turnbull government would conduct this within 30 days of the July 2 election.

However, Labor candidate for Paterson, Meryl Swanson says the release of the EnHealth advisory guideline at the weekend shows the government is in pre-election panic and, while the review is welcome, there is a need for a nationally consistent approach which is why Labor has committed to establishing a intergovernmental taskforce which will report within 90 days and ensure the Federal Government's response is consistent, coordinated and transparent.

Labor candidate, Meryl Swanson and Liberal candidate Karen Howard

Williamtown contamination battleground for pre-poll

BY JARROD MELMETH

The Williamtown contamination crisis has become the battleground for Paterson's Liberal candidate Karen Howard and Labor Candidate Meryl Swanson, after the Coalition government pledged to spend part of $55 million dollars from the existing Defence budget on managing the chemical contamination.

The funding comes 2 weeks after Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Julie Bishop visiting the affected Williamtown zones.

Williamtown contamination zone. Photo courtesy of
The Newcastle Herald.

Karen Howard says following this visit, the government has listened and the government has acted.

As part of the funding, the government will conduct an epidemiological study that will look at the health effects, causes and potential patterns of those exposed to elevated levels of PFOS and PFOA.

The package also includes voluntary blood testing for residents within the investigation zone as well as connecting Williamtown properties to town water.

A community liaison officer will also be appointed to help connect residents to allocated mental health services.

It comes after Labor's recent announcement of a $21 million action plan to address the contamination.

Meryl Swanson says it is pleasing to see the government have finally stepped up to the mark following Labor's lead on this.

"It's taken Labour to take the lead on this and finally they're [The Coalition] coming out at five minutes to midnight before the election."

The ALP have previously promised to fund blood tests, perform studies on the area and further financially support commercial fishers.