Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Western Metropolitan Region

David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:50): (1093) My constituency question is for the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC. My constituent is a Sunshine West resident. During the recent Derrimut fire she was, like all of her neighbours, incredibly distressed to see plumes of toxic smoke drifting towards her home less than 1200 metres from the fire. The fact is few locals know where toxic chemicals are stored until they explode, but they do know that most of Victoria’s toxic chemicals are parked somewhere in the west. My constituent wants an independent contamination taskforce established to look into how chemicals are stored and how state services respond to dangerous chemical fires that contaminate the air and pollute the waterways in the west. She asks: when will the government set up a contamination taskforce?