Oakey suit seeks $200m in compo
OAKEY residents living with contaminated groundwater supplies have filed a class action suit against the Commonwealth seeking an estimated $200 million in compensation.
More than 450 residents in the town signed up to the action led by Shine Lawyers in a step they say they never wanted to take.
The lawsuit, filed in the Federal Court yesterday, seeks compensation for damages after residents and the Department of Defence failed to reach a settlement over the past three years.
For residents such as lead plaintiff Brad Hudson, who has lived in the town for 33 years and brought up three children on contaminated land, the lawsuit is a final step towards starting over.
“I don’t think my children, as being Australian kids, deserve to have to put up with chemicals caused by the Australian Government,” Mr Hudson said.
“We’ve asked for a relocation thousands of times; it just falls on deaf ears.
“The banks don’t want to touch me. I just can’t walk off my property now and go get another property.”
Mr Hudson’s property is about 400m from the Oakey Army Aviation Centre, the base on which firefighting foam was used for decades before the Department of Defence alerted residents to the groundwater contamination in 2014.
Having used bore water for more than 15 years on the property, initially valued at about $700,000, Mr Hudson was told to limit his exposure to the water where possible.
Tests revealed Mr Hudson, his wife and three children aged six to 19 have elevated readings of PFOS and PFOA chemicals in their blood.
Shine Lawyers special counsel Peter Shannon said the 70-odd page class action was filed with “considerable reluctance”, but maintained residents would be open to a settlement outside of the court process.
“We’ll be seeking damages for compensation, that is the financial loss suffered by our clients,” Mr Shannon said.
“The amount of that, I can’t specify at the moment because it is actually expert evidence that determines that.
“I can say from my experience I would be surprised if it was less than $200 million or something in that effect.”
Mr Shannon said he was hopeful the case would be resolved within two years if it were to progress through the court process, but it was a “definite path to a definite outcome”.
“If Defence manages to do the right thing in the meantime, our door is open but if we’ve got to go, if they’re taking refuge behind the court process, then that is how we have to go,” he said.
“We would not be taking this action if we weren’t confident of the outcome but there’s no certainty in any litigation.
“This is not a personal injuries claim because personal injuries claims of this nature is not suitable for a class action.
“Not all people want to relocate. However most do and we would be saying that a proper compensation approach is the value of your property, the value of you relocating, the dislocation costs, the costs of moving, the cost of going into new schools - all those things.”
Mr Hudson’s daughter Megan, 16, said living with the contamination issues had impacted her school life with taunts from other children in Oakey, as well as fearing the unknown in terms of medical impacts.
“We want closure,” she said.
“We don’t want to live at our house, we want to move and be chemical-free. I’m hoping to be free of it all.”
In a statement yesterday, a Department of Defence spokesperson said: “Defence is aware that IMF Bentham issued a release to the Australian Securities Exchange (Tuesday).
“At this time, no formal documentation has been served on the Commonwealth and Defence is not aware of the details of the proceeding.
“Any claim will be handled in accordance with the Attorney-General’s Legal Services Directions 2017.
“It is inappropriate for Defence to make further public comment at this stage.”