Community divided
Hearing into PFAS heard how there is a divide in Oakey
A PARLIAMENTARY inquiry into the management of PFAS in and around Defence bases yesterday heard how the water contamination in Oakey had divided the community.
In her speech to members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Oakey resident Jennifer Spencer, who runs a Facebook group updating residents on the contamination, said there were groups within the community that “were at war” with each other and that had become physical.
“There are people shouting at each other and threatening violence, mocking and laughing at our suffering,” Ms Spender told the inquiry.
“One lady in an online forum told us to find a nice long rope and hang ourselves.
“We been told this all our fault. To shut up and go away, get out of this town. You’re tainting our town.”
Ms Spencer said a local GP had convinced people not to receive blood tests as they “serve no purpose”.
“I have never anywhere in the world been treated like this,” she said.
“The politicians have a lot to answer for.
“We’ve had enough and want the past five years to be a distant memory.”
Cattle farmer Dianne Priddle said she believed she knew the reason behind the division.
“The reason for that, and maybe I’m wrong, is because we were the first site (to be declared contaminated),” Ms Priddle said.
She said Defence’s initial handling after the revelations of contamination in 2013 had led to that divide, a divide that did not exist in other PFAS-affected communities such as Williamtown in New South Wales and Katherine in the Northern Territory.