Waste Levies

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:18): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation a question regarding Zero Waste levies.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: In this house on Tuesday, in answer to a question I put to the minister regarding the necessity for a 3 per cent increase in the Zero Waste levy for 2014-15, the minister advised the house that some of the money from the Zero Waste levy goes into general revenue to assist hospitals, schools, police and a myriad of services. My question to the minister is: please advise the house of the exact amount of money from that levy that has gone into general revenue.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:19): There has been a lot of misinformation bandied about recently about how these levies are used. I will not name names, of course, but for the benefit of members I will do some of their homework for them. Nothing about this is new—nothing at all. The EPA collects two levies, both relating to the disposal of waste: the solid waste levy and the liquid waste levy. A levy is payable by the licence holder of a waste depot for all solid and liquid waste received that is disposed of at the depot. These levies are collected by the EPA, with 50 per cent of the levy transferred to the Waste and Resources Fund and 5 per cent provided to the Environment Protection Fund.

The Environment Protection Fund is a statutory fund, established under the Environment Protection Act 1993. The fund is set up as an interest-bearing special deposit account with the Department of Treasury and Finance, where it receives a prescribed percentage of fees, levies and fines. I am advised the fund receives 100 per cent of fines and penalties, plus 5 per cent of licence fees and waste levies collected by the EPA, as I mentioned a little earlier. That leaves us 45 per cent remaining, which is used to fund a range of EPA priority projects and programs, including the development and implementation of waste policy, such as the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010, the management of site contamination legislation and the illegal dumping unit, which is very active in investigating illegal waste operations.

Each year, the EPA receives an expenditure authority, which sets a limit on how much they will be allowed to spend. Last financial year this was $48,048,333. This financial year it rises, I am told, to $50,731,000. Any moneys that are collected by the EPA which are above this limit—and I remind members that the EPA collects a range of licence fees, grants and subsidies—of expenditure authority are placed in general revenue, which contributes to funding for hospitals, schools, police and the other services the honourable member raised in his question for the benefit of the South Australian community.

Part of the misinformation that is bandied about includes an often-mentioned Zero Waste levy. For the benefit of members opposite, I will explain how the levies received by the EPA are collected. The Zero Waste SA Act 2004 establishes a dedicated fund, the Waste to Resources Fund, which Zero Waste SA applies moneys to through an approved business plan to achieve its objectives, set out in South Australia's Waste Strategy 2011-15. This is a hypothecated fund and not a cent of it goes to anything other than waste-related measures, I am advised.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Not a cent. The fund is made up, primarily, of 50 per cent of the levy paid by waste depot licence holders under section 113 of the Environment Protection Act. From 2003 to now, Zero Waste SA has spent approximately $81.2 million of waste levy funds on programs and projects that have stimulated councils, businesses and the community to produce, recover, re-use and recycle, thereby cutting the amount of waste going directly to landfill.

Waste levy revenue has provided grants and incentives for a diverse range of world-class recycling and leading-edge waste reduction projects. The Hon. Mr Brokenshire does not seem to have any interest in that. The waste levy revenue has provided grants and incentives to councils to improve kerbside recycling systems, but the Hon. Mr Brokenshire does not seem to have any interest in that. The waste levy revenue has supported businesses and industry to improve waste management practices, but the Hon. Mr Brokenshire seems to have no interest in that.

The waste levy revenue has provided regional communities with new or upgraded transfer stations using state-of-the-art technologies, sorting equipment and improved waste management, supported school education projects, supported litter reduction initiatives and supported free household collection services for hazardous waste, including e-waste, but the Hon. Mr Brokenshire seems to have no interest in any of that. These projects have proved—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, continue.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: These projects have proved successful and have cut the amount of waste going directly to landfill. Overall, the long-term trend for resource recovery in South Australia remains upwards. In the period since 2003-04, the total reported resource recovery has nearly doubled from two million to four million tonnes each year. The diversion rate has steadily increased from just over 60 per cent to between 75 and 80 per cent.

As of May, I can say Zero Waste SA's Treasury approved expenditure for 2014-15 is $7.45 million, and while any future expenditure from the fund must be framed in the context of economic conditions facing the state, the government will continue to explore other ideas and projects to access and use moneys from this fund for the purposes pursuant to the Zero Waste SA Act 2004. The waste levy revenue funds a range of EPA priority projects and programs, including the development and implementation of waste policy, such as the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy. Other projects include—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Honourable members do not seem to have any interest in this very important area. Let me just finish with this comment. In an article published on the reputable Business Environment Network website on 7 December 2012, the Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association of New South Wales stated that waste is being moved from New South Wales landfills and being sent to Queensland. In a further article from 25 June 2013, Tony Khoury, the executive director of the Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association of New South Wales, an industry expert, was quoted as stating:

An unfortunate consequence of a high NSW waste levy—particularly since the Queensland government's decision to abandon its own waste levy—is the financial incentive to transport waste to south-east Queensland landfills.

Mr President, that is the answer to why our waste levy goes up hand in hand with Victoria's and New South Wales', because we want to prevent across-the-border dumping of waste from other states into South Australia, and turn what is waste into a resource.