Local Government (Waste Collection) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 29 November 2023.)

Mr BATTY (Bragg) (11:01): I rise to speak in support of the Local Government (Waste Collection) Amendment Bill 2023. I commend the Leader of the Opposition for introducing this bill to the house. It is something I hope and expect will be the latest in what is fast turning into a string of legislation introduced into this house by the Liberal opposition that is supported by the government and this parliament and is turned into very good law.

Fresh off the success of the South Australian Liberals' last sitting week in legislating to ban corflutes come election time—despite those opposite declining to support it up to 10 times during my short time in the parliament—and fresh off the South Australian Liberals' success last sitting week in stopping Labor's so-called picnic tax that could have seen new fees and charges introduced at the Botanic Gardens, including new paid parking on weekends, we are back. We are back, governing from opposition, standing up for South Australians and trying to put a stop to the latest cash grab that has been proposed by those opposite.

If last sitting week we stopped the picnic tax, let us stop the nappy tax this week. It really does make you think two things: firstly, what is next? Is there anything this Labor government will not try to tax? We have the nappy tax this week and we had the picnic tax last week. Secondly, and more importantly, it makes you think, 'Thank God for the South Australian Liberal Party.' Thank God for the South Australian Liberal opposition standing up for South Australian families in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, standing against these ridiculous cash grabs proposed by those opposite and, frankly, providing some sort of legislative agenda for us in this place. We spent most of last week legislating Liberal legislation and we have spent all of this morning legislating Greens legislation. What is next for this government that is bereft of any vision, bereft of any legislative agenda?

I hope, though, that this will be the latest success story for the South Australian Liberal Party in this parliament this year. It is a very good and important bill because it is trying to put a stop to pay-as-you-throw kerbside management, which would only serve to add further hip pocket pain to households that are already struggling in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. It is a very discrete bill. It seeks to insert new section 155A into the Local Government Act 1999 to explicitly prohibit weight-based rates and charges for waste collection.

That scheme of pay-as-you-throw is a very bad idea because it would see households charged based on the amount of rubbish they dispose of which would, of course, place a new and extra financial burden on South Australian families and particularly those South Australian families with young children will be disproportionately impacted by this so-called nappy tax during the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.

Before I get accused by those opposite of making up this latest tax—we saw the picnic tax last week and their initial reaction is 'Well, we never suggested that'—the nappy tax this week is not some sort of fantasy. During a recent Budget and Finance Committee hearing, officials from Green Industries were questioned directly about this issue. The Hon. Heidi Girolamo, the Chairperson of that committee in the other place, said:

So pay-as-you-throw is an option that is on the table, where people get charged more based on the weight of their rubbish; is that right?

The Chief Executive of Green Industries SA replied, and I quote: 'It is an option on the table.' A short time thereafter the minister in this very house confirmed that it was an option on the table. I say we need to take it off the table. The South Australian Liberal Party say we need to take it off the table.

What did we see from the Labor government only a few hours ago? They have listened again. They want to take it off the table as well it seems, three months after we introduce a bill in this place seeking to scrap this bad nappy tax. Three hours ago we see a media release go out from the Deputy Premier, the Minister for Environment, and the headline of that media release is 'South Australia's kerbside collection rules to be updated'. The first sentence reads:

The Malinauskas government will prohibit councils imposing kerbside rubbish collection fees based on weight.

That is exactly what this bill seeks to do. In fact, that is all that this bill seeks to do.

Another sitting week, another huge backflip from those opposite, a very happy capitulation to the demands of the South Australian Liberal opposition who have been standing up for South Australian families in a cost-of-living crisis, standing up against these new and ridiculous cash grabs that disproportionately impact families with young children.

If the Minister for Environment and Labor are serious about their promises made in this glitzy media release only a few hours ago, that they want to prohibit councils imposing kerbside rubbish collection fees based on weight, they can make good on that brand-new promise today—something we have been fighting for for months, by the way—by supporting this legislation that seeks to do just that. In fact, that is all this legislation seeks to do.

It is not enough for the minister to try to put out a media release and go into damage control as a result of the South Australian Liberal Party's pressure. They need to support this bill today that will take this nappy tax off the table once and for all. I hope they do. I expect they will, given this media release. I commend this bill to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Odenwalder.