By ANNA USHER

Defence has refused to say whether the ground at HMAS Penguin is contaminated with PFAS, or whether locals will keep their foreshore access once part of the Mosman base is sold, blocking Warringah MP Zali Steggall’s freedom of information request on national security grounds.

Her office also asked what bushland and threatened species need protecting on the headland, what heritage obligations bind any sale, and what it would cost to shift the base’s Navy training and medical facilities somewhere else.

PFAS are human-made “forever chemicals” that do not break down naturally and build up in soil and water. CSIRO says legacy firefighting foams containing PFAS were once commonly used at military bases, and its scientists now work with Defence to track how the chemicals spread. Defence runs its own national program cleaning up PFAS contamination at bases around the country.

Defence has a published list of 28 sites where it is investigating and managing PFAS contamination nationwide. HMAS Penguin is not on it. That means no investigation is running at the base, not that the ground has been tested and cleared.

“Ongoing monitoring of PFAS at each of the 28 program sites continues to help Defence understand changes in PFAS contamination over time,” the website says. “If monitoring results indicate changes to Defence’s understanding of PFAS, Defence will respond and take appropriate action.”

Steggall said Defence identified just two documents covering her request, but refused to release them.

“I’m not asking for the tactics used by Navy divers at HMAS Penguin to covertly blow up an enemy ship. I’m asking for basic environmental, heritage and public-interest information,” Steggall said.

“This is a crucial public asset and Australians deserve to know what risks and obligations come with any proposal to divest it.”

What the FOI request asked for

• Environmental values at HMAS Penguin that warrant protection (such as bushland, ecological communities, threatened species or habitats)
• Details of any contamination such as PFAS
• Consideration of public access to foreshore areas or walking tracks near HMAS Penguin after divestment, and if this would be maintained or restricted.
• Analysis of the cost, feasibility or operational implications of moving HMAS Penguin’s functions (such as Navy training or medical facilities) to new locations versus retaining them
• Assessment of heritage considerations at HMAS Penguin, including copies of any Heritage Management Plans, any obligations under federal environment law and details of heritage values that must be preserved in any divestment.

KPMG called in after the decision

The Department of Finance has engaged KPMG to help run the Defence estate divestment program, including due diligence on environment, heritage and contamination. Steggall said that raised serious questions about the government’s decision-making.

“It beggars belief that the government would not assess environmental, contamination and heritage issues before deciding to divest HMAS Penguin – and is now outsourcing this vital work after the fact,” she said.

“And if this work was completed before the decision, the government should release the information to the community.”

She also wants a straight answer on whether HMAS Penguin has already been transferred from Defence to Finance, and if not, when that happens and how the public will be told.

“The government should not be quietly moving a nationally significant Defence site between agencies without proper public scrutiny,” she said. “Defence has the expertise to maintain these buildings. Moving them into a property disposal portfolio risks them becoming neglected and abandoned.”

Steggall said HMAS Penguin holds enormous cultural and historic value, and “once that heritage is lost, it cannot be brought back”.

Part of a $1.8 billion sell-off

An HMAS Penguin partial sell-off is among 67 military sites the Government plans to offload after an independent audit found they held little strategic value, which could net a profit of $1.8 billion.

Savings would be redirected into core defence capability, equipment and infrastructure.

Opposition in Mosman has been building since March, when Steggall pushed for “genuine community use” on any Penguin land the government sells. Former prime minister Tony Abbott, whom she unseated in Warringah in 2019, called for a human chain around the base in June.

The next community rally is set for 11 October.