Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne has remained tight lipped about the contamination crisis gripping Williamtown during a surprise visit to the RAAF base on Wednesday, but denied he was “shirking” his responsibility by hand-balling questions to another minister. 

Mr Pyne visited BAE Systems to announce it had secured a $200 million, two-year contract to sustain the Hawk Lead-In Fighter Fleet, but the focus quickly turned to the firefighting contaminants that have rendered homes around the base worthless. 

He said questions should be put in writing to Defence Minister Marise Payne – who he confirmed now has responsibility for the Defence estate since a recent cabinet reshuffle – or Minister for Defence Personnel Dan Tehan. 

“It’s probably best that I stay within my lane, as they say,” Mr Pyne said. “My role as Defence Industry Minister is obviously pretty clear and my job is to promote Defence capability and Defence industry and help defend the nation.” 

Mr Pyne was questioned over whether the excavation works on the base as part of the $1 billion Joint Strike Fighter upgrade were worsening the spread of the contamination, after documents leaked to the Herald showed the department’s own experts warned they could “mobilise” contaminated material and even “reverse” groundwater flows. 

Tests undertaken by residents in Moors Drain – which carries water off the base towards the township of Salt Ash – recently showed that levels of contaminants in the water have increased about 70-fold within six months. 

But Mr Pyne was adamant drawing large quantities of contaminated water out of the ground was not aggravating the spread of the chemicals. 

“The expansion works are having absolutely no impact on the contamination issue and I got that assurance this morning from the Department of the Defence Secretary,” Mr Pyne said.   

He said free blood testing was already being offered to contractors, who have alleged they developed rashes after being exposed to highly contaminated water without personal protective gear early last year. 

“We aren’t shirking our responsibility by any stretch of the imagination, we have put $55 million on the table across a range of different measures.

“We are addressing things like the water treatment, linking the residents to town water, blood tests and ongoing health support for residents that might be affected. 

​”Defence will do absolutely everything that is required and is expected to support Australians who are, of course, members of our community and deserve our support.” 

Mr Pyne’s response was blasted by Labor Member for Paterson Meryl Swanson, who described it as a “disgusting act of buck passing,” and accused the federal government of adding “insult to injury” by allowing the community to languish while it embarked on record Defence spending.