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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-03-10 Daily Xml
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WASTE LEVY

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:17): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question about the increase to the solid waste levy.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: Local Government Association Chief Executive, Wendy Campana, stated on ABC radio on 1 March that councils will face a double hit when new dumping fees come into play.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The honourable member does not need help from her colleagues—she is doing fine.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: From July the solid waste levy for Adelaide will rise from $26 to $35 a tonne. In country areas it will jump from $13 to $17.50 per tonne. She stated:

The fee is actually going up because the state government has increased it;…we are really concerned because not only is it an extra cost for communities and councils, it also potentially increases dumping on the side of the road...

She also mentioned:

What we see with the waste levy is that only half of the levy collected actually goes to the Zero Waste organisation…the other half goes to the EPA and we're struggling to see what the EPA actually spends that money on when it comes to waste.

On 1 March, the Chief Executive of SA Waste Management went on ABC radio and said:

EPA has tried on many occasions to actually take people to court and fine them...they can't successfully fine people or sue them very easily.

My questions to the minister are:

1. As the Local Government Association Chief Executive said, 'Experience tells us that as soon as the levy goes up there is more increased dumping of waste on the side of the road or in a paddock because people are trying to avoid the costs at the actual tips.' If the LGA and EPA are unable to successfully fine people from illegally dumping waste, what monitoring system will the government introduce to prevent illegal dumping?

2. Can the minister please explain how extra funds raised by the solid waste levy contribute to SA waste organisations?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (15:20): It is a good day for any independent organisations linked to the government. We have had the police being called into question and the WorkCover Corporation, and now it is the Environment Protection Authority. Apparently, it does not matter what organisation or authority you are involved in, if it has any connection to the state government, apparently you are in strife as far as members opposite are concerned.

The Environment Protection Authority is an independent agency of government and it does a whole range of things in relation to environment protection. Quite often we have the Hon. Mr Parnell or others saying that the EPA is not doing enough or is not being tough enough, but here we have the honourable members of the opposition saying that the EPA is out there like cowboys rounding people up at will. In relation to the EPA and Zero Waste, as I understand it, they are the responsibilities of the honourable Minister for Environment in another place and I will refer those questions to him for some detail.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink interjecting:

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN: Members opposite seem to believe that I am the minister for everything. It is extraordinary that, for some reason, they should expect that I am able to answer every question in every portfolio. It is an interesting approach to question time. It is, of course, the usual practice in both houses indeed, and in parliaments around the commonwealth, that questions that relate to portfolios of other ministers are generally referred to them for further information, and I am happy to do that, of course.

In relation to what the Local Government Association has had to say in regard to the solid waste levy, I can obtain further details in relation to the quantums and so on but, of course, as I recall, this was a budget measure. It was well understood. Part of the purpose of having the solid waste levy is as a disincentive for people to increase their quantity of solid waste. Obviously it is important that we try to encourage people in the community not to have as much waste, to recycle, and to be thoughtful about how they use their resources and whether they end up with large quantities of waste.

We all have our household waste and I am sure that all of us are aware that in recent years we have paid a bit more attention to waste rather than just lumping it all together in the bin as we used to do generally. Most of us would now split our rubbish and our waste into recyclable or other solid waste, compostable items, green items and so on.

It is important that we continue to achieve that sort of change in the community in regard to the processing and management of waste. That includes the solid waste levy, which is a driver for ensuring that people manage their waste in the most responsible way—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN: Members opposite are interjecting so much that it is difficult for me to conclude my answer.

The PRESIDENT: Order! It is very important.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN: The solid waste levy plays an important part in encouraging people to be more responsible and careful with their waste. As we know, over the years people have become more conscious, thankfully, about how they manage waste and we want that to continue. We cannot go back to the old days where we just lumped everything in a pile somewhere and kept those dumps full of rubbish without properly addressing the management of it.

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