16 News

The Commonwealth has commenced legal action in the Federal Court of Australia against 3M Australia Pty Ltd and 3M Company for damages to recover costs relating to per- and poly-fluoroaklyl substances (PFAS) contamination at 28 Defence bases across Australia.

PFAS are chemicals that are contained in legacy firefighting foams for many years, including on Defence sites. 

The Commonwealth’s case includes allegations that: 

• 3M withheld a range of information and misrepresented the effects of 3M’s aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). This included what it knew about the environmental risks of AFFF;
• 3M did not fully disclose what it knew about the environmental risks of AFFF; and 
• 3M gave assurances about disposal and environmental safety that were inconsistent with what the company knew at the time.

This action will see the Commonwealth seek damages to recover significant costs taxpayers have carried for investigating, managing and remediating contamination resulting from 3M’s AFFF containing PFAS.

The Department of Defence continues to use responsible methods to manage and remediate PFAS contaminated environments on and around Defence bases.

Attorney-General, Michelle Rowland:

“The Government is committed to holding 3M to account for the economic and environmental harms associated with PFAS contamination.

“The Commonwealth has commenced this legal action to pursue appropriate accountability through the Federal Court and to seek recovery of costs borne by the Commonwealth in responding to PFAS contamination at Defence bases.

“This is about ensuring these issues are addressed through proper legal processes.”

Assistant Minister for Defence, Peter Khalil:

“I have visited communities right across Australia that have been affected by PFAS contamination, and they need action. That’s why the Commonwealth commenced this legal action today.

“Defence is seeking more than $2 billion in damages to recover significant past and future expenses incurred by investigating and managing contamination resulting from the historical storage and use of AFFF.

“These court proceedings are about recovering the significant costs Defence has and will continue to incur while investigating and managing the Defence Estate and supporting Australians affected by PFAS.

“Defence has spent over $1.3 billion on its PFAS response, and continues to work closely with state and local authorities to support local communities near bases affected by PFAS, and that work will continue.”

The Albanese Government is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Alan Clements AM CSC as Chief Executive Officer of CEA Technologies Pty Limited for a five-year term.

Mr Clements is an experienced leader with a strong track record in delivering defence capability, both as a senior officer in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and a senior executive in defence industry. Mr Clements was mostly recently Vice President of L3Harris Technologies Australia and New Zealand, where he supported capability delivery and expanded export opportunities.

Mr Clements served for more than three decades in the RAAF, retiring at the rank of Air Vice-Marshal. His extensive experience across the defence sector is underpinned by a strong understanding of program delivery, capability development and technology integration. 

Mr Clements’ expertise will support CEA Technologies as it continues to evolve as a Government Business Enterprise, delivering its world leading radar technology to the Australian Defence Force and pursuing commercial and export opportunities. 

Richard Marles, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence:

“Mr Clements’s strong defence leadership experience and deep understanding of capability development and delivery will support CEA’s continued growth as a local manufacturer of technologies that enable critical Australian Defence Force capabilities.”

Katy Gallagher, Minister for Finance:

“Mr Clements brings extensive experience to this role and will play an important part in helping CEA Technologies continue to deliver for Australia while strengthening our sovereign defence capability.

“CEA Technologies is a great Canberra success story, they support highly skilled local jobs and innovation here in the national capital, and this appointment will help the company continue to grow and thrive with the backing of the Commonwealth Government.”

The Net Zero Commission has told an inquiry today that the Minns Labor Government’s plans to expand existing coal mines – released 19 March 2026 is inconsistent with the Commission’s independent advice, NSW laws to reduce emissions, and the Paris Agreement to reduce global emissions.

Greens MP and spokesperson for Climate Change Sue Higginson said “The Minns Labor Government committed to legally binding emissions reductions targets when they came to power, but their continued support for more coal in NSW is against their own laws and flies in the face of expert and international advice,”

“The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has advised that States have an obligation to protect the environment from greenhouse gas emissions, and the United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution affirming that advice. The Australian Government supported this position, but here in NSW the Minns Labor Government isn’t listening to the law or the science,”

“Concerningly, NSW Resources have apparently not even considered the advice of the ICJ, leaving Australia internationally exposed and liable for the making of reparations if we act inconsistently with the international objective of reducing emissions,”

“The Net Zero Commission was established by the Minns Labor Government as an independent advisory body, so we rightly expect the Government to act in accordance with the Commission’s advice, as well as their own laws and international obligations,”

“Glencore’s proposed Hunter Valley Operations expansion is one of the biggest and most controversial coal projects under consideration in NSW, it single-handedly threatens NSW emissions targets. Given the inconsistencies now evidenced in the planning and regulatory framework surrounding coal approvals, I believe the system would benefit from the Commission providing advice to the Independent Planning Commission, as they are able to do under the climate laws of NSW,”

“There have already been 10 coal expansions under the Minns Labor Government, with two approved just in the last six months. With another 16 projects still coming down the planning pipeline, it’s time for the Minns Labor Government to decide if they will continue to recklessly hand out coal approvals or be a responsible Government and work within the law to bring our emissions down,” Ms Higginson said.

Liberal Leader Kellie Sloane has backflipped on reforms to character at sentencing, supporting a total removal of good character as a mitigating factor at sentencing across all offence types. The decision will undermine judicial discretion and prohibit vulnerable people from having their character considered during sentencing for criminal matters.

Amendments passed on a previous Bill just 2 weeks ago, supported by all non-government Members including the Liberals and Nationals, would have supported victim survivors of sexual crime by preventing a perpetrator’s ‘good’ character and their references being considered during sentencing for sexual offences, but allowed the Court to determine whether it could apply in other cases.

The Liberals are now expected to vote with Labor to completely abolish character in sentencing, in defiance of the position of Domestic Violence NSW, the Aboriginal Legal Service, the Bar Association, Legal Aid, part of the Sentencing Council of NSW and other experts.

Greens MP, Solicitor and spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said,

“It’s jarring to watch Kellie Sloane and the Liberals now join Labor and throw expert evidence and lived experience away in favour of some idea of political safety and favour. It’s a sad day in NSW when the Opposition takes a clear evidenced based position, passes good law, then completely backflips on that position for fear of the Government criticising them for not being tough enough on crime,”

“The job of the Opposition and Crossbench in Parliament is to scrutinise the Government and find the best outcomes for the community, this is what the Upper House has done with reforms to character at sentencing,”

“This backflip will hand the Minns Labor Government another opportunity to make the criminal justice system worse for victims of domestic violence, more threatening to vulnerable people, and will lead to more First Nations people being sent to Prison,”

“When the Opposition supported our amendments, they were backed by evidence from leading legal authorities like the Bar Association, the Law Society and the Aboriginal Legal Service, and peak civil society groups like Domestic Violence NSW and the Community Restorative Centre. This backflip is based on fear and politics, instead of evidence,”

“The NSW Liberals and Nationals are already staring down the barrel of political oblivion, and given the way Kellie Sloane is backing in every decision of Labor Premier Chris Minns, you can see why”

“Once again Kellie Sloane has shown she doesn’t have what it takes to stand up to Labor Premier Chris Minns. The Greens will continue as the real opposition to the Minns Labor Government, because the Liberals and Nationals aren’t up to the task,” Ms Higginson said.

The Greens NSW have welcomed, with alarm, the Data Centre report by Greenpeace, ‘Energy Vampires: The AI Data Centres draining Australia’. The report finds that the frenzied rollout of AI data centres in Australia is rushing through massive new projects, which will derail Australia’s energy transition unless the government urgently intervenes, and that there are early signs of a data centre-fuelled gas boom in Australia, which will come with massive, nationally significant climate costs.

This is exactly why Greens NSW secured support to establish a parliamentary inquiry into data centre developments in NSW, the first of its kind in Australia.

Quotes attributable to Abigail Boyd MP, Greens NSW MLC and Chair of the Public Accountability and Works Committee which is inquiring into Data Centres in NSW:

“I forced the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to admit that way back in 2024 they formally warned the Minister for Climate Change, Penny Sharpe, that data centre developments were going to directly imperil us meeting our legislated emissions reduction targets. The NSW Labor government, after hearing that advice, decided to put their foot on the accelerator.

“We are seeing playing out in NSW right now the reality of the fossil-fuelled data centre boom. The NSW Labor Government has opened Western NSW for fracking, including in the largest freshwater supply in Australia, the Great Artesian Basin, while reducing application fees for petroleum exploration licences by 98%. We’re now seeing the Minister for Energy trying to pass legislation that would prioritise new gas generation projects in the planning system.

Referring to Cloud Carrier’s proposed gas-fired power project, to power their planned Southern Highlands Data Centre, Boyd said “Right now, there is a data centre project being considered by the planning system that would, if approved, wipe out the entirety of NSW projected 2028 emissions cuts.

“The latest Gas Statement of Opportunities report expected a reduction in gas demand to serve existing energy demands and future electrification. The rush to open new gas projects can only be for the purposes of serving newly introduced demand from these massive AI data centre projects. In fact, just over a month ago AEMO increased their projections for the expected data centre energy demand.

“Climate impacts of these projects must be paramount. But right now, the Labor government is choosing Big Tech and Fossil Fuel industries, not community health, safety and wellbeing, and locking us into a fossil fuel intensive, climate disastrous future.

“While big tech is promising us the moon, it could end up costing us the earth.”

Labor’s proposed changes to the capital gains tax and negative gearing will be examined at a Senate inquiry, giving the Bill the scrutiny it deserves.

Because the legislation has provisions that are due to commence July 1 this year, it has been automatically referred to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, with a report due by June 22.

This process may inform the shape of the bill to be considered by the Senate.

Comments attributable to Greens Economic Justice Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim:

“We will use this inquiry to examine how and why Labor decided to leave in place the vast majority of tax handouts for the ultra wealthy.”

“As with so many parts of Labor’s budget, this bill is a missed opportunity to finally put people ahead of profits and make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share.

“Labor’s extremely generous grandparenting provisions have left so much money on the table.”

Comments attributable to Greens Leader Senator Larissa Waters:

“These are very significant changes to our tax system, and will go through the inquiry process to ensure they get the scrutiny they need.

“We are hearing countless young people and first homebuyers express their frustration that Labor is letting wealthy property investors keep billions in handouts – an inquiry will help examine the consequences of Labor’s decision on grandfathering.”

The Coalition supports sensible reform to employment services, but today’s announcement from Minister Rishworth is also an acknowledgment that unemployment is rising under Labor and the current system is not delivering for Australians looking for work. Minister Rishworth stood at the National Press Club today and called this “the biggest reform in 30 years” a mere week after unemployment rose to 4.5 per cent, with 692,500 Australians now out of work. That is not a coincidence worth ignoring. It is the context in which the Albanese Government’s employment services record must be judged. More than 140,600 additional Australians out of work compared to when the Coalition left office. Youth unemployment is now double the national rate and it was women who bore the brunt of Labor’s weakening economy in the most recent Labour Force data. These are not abstract statistics. They are Australians who either lost work or cannot find work in the month the Government chose to announce its reform. The Coalition welcomes Minister Rishworth’s belated recognition that Australia’s employment services system needs reform. A more targeted approach that involves matching the level of support to the distance a jobseeker is from the labour market is a sensible direction. The Coalition understands that the needs of someone who has recently lost their job, a person building skills and confidence, and someone facing complex long-term barriers to employment are genuinely different. Splitting the system into three streams is a sensible structural change. But the Coalition has a serious concern about what this reform signals for mutual obligations, particularly for Australians who have been on JobSeeker for extended periods. The Coalition would be deeply concerned by any systematic weakening of participation requirements for the long-term unemployed or a world where the long-term unemployed are put in the “too hard basket” without a path to experiencing the dignity of work. Mutual obligations are the framework that maintains a meaningful connection between receiving income support and actively engaging with their own pathway back to work. Decades of Australian and international evidence shows that structured participation produces better long-term employment outcomes than passive support. The Minister was today unable to answer basic questions about how participants in the various streams will progress and how success will be measured. We will be following these matters up at Senate Estimates next week and expect the Department to come with answers. The Coalition knows that a Press Club Address does not create jobs. A growing and productive economy with a thriving private sector does. Small businesses are looking at leaving our shores because of Labor’s budget of toxic taxes and a business that shuts its doors employs no one. Labor’s high taxing agenda is a recipe for fewer jobs and less opportunity. The Coalition is delivering policies that will improve Australians’ living standards and drive economic growth, including our Tax Back Guarantee and scrapping Labor’s economy-wide taxes.