Mr Field’s motion called for greater transparency and urgent action on per and poly fluoroalkyl (PFAs) contamination occurring in fish in the Shoalhaven River.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority recently issued precautionary dietary advice for five fish species caught in the Shoalhaven River after testing found elevated PFAs levels.

Mr Field said the community deserves answers from the government on how the Shoalhaven River contamination happened, who was responsible and how the contamination was going to be remediated and prevented from occurring again.

“Why is the government voting against a motion simply calling on them to be open and transparent with the community about the issue and to commit to restoring the health of the river?” he said.

“The contamination of the Shoalhaven River is a wakeup call for all governments to take seriously their responsibility to protect the health of people and rivers from pollution.

“Most of us assume that big industry does the right thing when it comes to complying with pollution laws and the government will make sure they take their obligations seriously, but we’ve seen too many times that this not the case.”

Mr Field said many Shoalhaven residents were concerned about contamination of their local river and disappointed the source of pollution had still not been identified.

“Locals and tourists alike enjoy heading out on the Shoalhaven River to fish and for other recreational pursuits,” he said “the area also boasts a $25 million seafood industry annually that serves domestic and export markets.”

He questioned if the Shoalhaven River would be remediated in time for the summer.

“The community deserves answers and a guarantee the NSW Government is doing all it can to clean up the mess and open up the river for fishing again when safe for human health,” Mr Field said.

The EPA says the Shoalhaven River fishery remains open, despite the higher than PFAS levels.

“Commercial fishers can continue to sell fish they catch in the Shoalhaven River and recreational fishers who regularly catch and eat their own fish from the Shoalhaven River can continue to do so safely, but should follow the dietary advice,” the spokesperson said.

The EPA released precautionary dietary advice for five fish species,  luderick (blackfish), sea mullet, sand whiting, dusky flathead and silverbiddy,  caught in the river both up and downstream of the Shoalhaven River Bridge.

A DPI Fisheries spokesperson said tests were carried out on a wide variety of marine life in the river, including whiting, flathead, luderick, sea mullet, luderick, common silverbiddy and yellow-fin bream, along with mud crabs and school prawns.

A community information session about the possible contamination to areas surrounding HMAS Albatross from the historic use of fire fighting foams containing PFAS late last week could not rule out contamination in the river had come from the Nowra Hill naval base.

Read more: Latest HMAS Albatross environmental testing results revealed

The latest test results from the defence investigation team said the risk of contamination to surrounding properties was “low and acceptable”.

Investigators could also not rule out a possible link between the contamination at the naval base and recent higher PFAS levels in certain fish species in the Shoalhaven River.

However, the EPA says it continues to investigate the PFAS contamination in the Shoalhaven River, saying there were a number of potential causes.