Action against Conglomerate: Australia seeks $1.4 billion in damages from company 3M

Australia is seeking 1.4 billion in damages from 3M. It claims the multinational conglomerate withheld information about the harmful effects of its firefighting foam used on military bases around the country. Greg Navarro reports.

At a recent news conference, Australia's Attorney-General highlighted the significance of the government's legal action against manufacturing giant 3M.

MICHELLE ROWLAND Australian Attorney General "Let me be clear, this is the largest ever legal claim brought by the commonwealth."

The legal action centres on firefighting foam manufactured by 3M and used at 28 military bases around Australia.

The government alleges the company misrepresented the risks posed by chemicals known as PFAS, and withheld information from its own environment testing.

MICHELLE ROWLAND Australian Attorney General "This misconduct has contributed to substantial costs for defence and the Australian taxpayer including over $1 billion to date to investigate, remediate, and mitigate PFAS contamination at defence estate sites."

PFAS chemicals have been used for decades in products ranging from non-stick cookware to firefighting because of their resistance to heat, water and oil.

But concerns over their environmental and health impacts have grown since scientists discovered the chemicals can exist in the environment for decades.

NICHOLAS CHARTRES Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health University of Sydney "It's now established, by leading authoritative bodies throughout the world as a carcinogen, and it also leads to other human health effects, including effects on immunosuppression, so it reduces our ability to fight infection, but it's also linked to other risk factors including cardiovascular disease."

GREG NAVARRO Sydney "Scientists say these chemicals – also known as forever chemicals – are remarkably mobile. They've been detected essentially everywhere from Antarctica to deep seafloor sediments, highlighting how widely they have spread throughout the global environment."

NICHOLAS CHARTRES Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health University of Sydney "In Australia, back in May 2025, the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare released a study that I conducted to show that around 98 to 100% of Australians over the age of 12 have them in our blood."

In a statement, 3M said it stopped selling PFAS-based firefighting foam two decades ago, and noted that Australia's Department of Defence continued to use PFAS-containing foams for many years afterwards.

Associate Professor Nicholas Chartres says the company's handling of PFAS mirrors tactics once used by the Tobacco industry.

NICHOLAS CHARTRES Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health University of Sydney "I used it because people are familiar with it, you know the fact that the tobacco industry hid the science around the harms of tobacco products and this is no different."

The government is seeking $1.4 billion in damages. Researchers say if Australia succeeds, it could encourage governments elsewhere to take similar claims over PFAS contamination. Greg Navarro, CGTN, Sydney.