On one side of the barbed wire fence, the Department of Defence is spending more than $3 million on refurbishing its on-site cinema. On the other side: farmers and residents who have received zero financial support despite the toxic chemical contamination of their families, animals, crops and land.
The David versus Goliath battle between ordinary civilians and a major Federal Government department is cast into stark relief in Richmond on the outskirts of Sydney.
The McLaren family – who shut down their Paddock to Plate grass-fed beef business after it was found their cattle were heavily contaminated by decades of PFAS chemicals leaking off the nearby RAAF Base – have received no financial aid from Defence.This is despite being forced to pay for town water for their cattle and discovering elevated levels of the legacy firefighting chemical in their own blood earlier this year.They have got by on a significantly reduced income since blowing the whistle on the bio-persistent “forever chemicals”, which are linked to several cancers, raised cholesterol, impaired immunity, and reproductive and developmental problems.“We’ve had nothing,” says Alastair McLaren. “We’ve had no help from Defence.”Adding insult to injury, documents obtained by 9News show Defence is spending $3,200,490.94 on refurbishing its RAAF Richmond Metro Cinema, a theatre that plays new release movies each Friday and Saturday night for Defence staff and their families.A Defence spokesperson today defended the big spend, insisting the refurbishment was necessary as the cinema was a “key facility” used for briefings as well as community activities. The work, which includes remediating another contaminant – asbestos, is described as “value for money”.Next month, the McLaren family will move their prized Angus cattle off land they have leased opposite the base for the past five years.“The people that are in charge of defending us in case of a breakout of war are now fighting us on our home soil,” Mr McLaren says.
Source: $3m cinema upgrade at Defence HQ as farmers lose land to toxic contamination