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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-07-05 Daily Xml
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Local Nuisance and Litter Control (Illegal Dumping on Construction Sites) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:32): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Local Nuisance and Litter Control Act 2016. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:34): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The reason the Australian Conservatives are bringing the Local Nuisance and Litter Control (Illegal Dumping on Construction Sites) Amendment Bill before this council is that in recent years there has, unfortunately, been an ever increasing illegal dumping situation on building sites. This is actually costing builders and, therefore, as it is always passed on, obviously costing those who are building homes and commercial properties a considerable amount of money.

Illegal dumping is a very serious offence. Under the current act, individuals can be penalised up to $500,000 or, indeed, imprisoned for four years. Body corporate penalties can be as high as $2 million. Illegal dumping not only impacts the environment, but what most fail to realise is that, more often than not, builders and landowners are left to bear the cost.

Despite not being under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935, illegal dumping is a criminal offence. According to section 44 of the act, offences constituted by the act lie within the criminal jurisdiction of the Environment, Resources and Development Court. Despite these deterrents, illegal dumping still remains a major issue for the building industry.

This bill creates a new offence for disposing litter on a construction site, attracting a higher expiation fee, with on-the-spot fines ranging from $420 to $2,000. According to council, small operators are the most likely source of illegally dumped construction and demolition waste, with householders contributing to a lesser extent.

Urban councils nominated the unwillingness of offenders to pay as the main reason for it; that is, the cost avoidance of otherwise taking hard rubbish to a waste disposal site. We know how much the cost of doing so has increased. The councils are now saying that this is the main reason for illegal dumping of construction and demolition waste. Most rural councils nominated unwillingness to pay as the main reason, but considered an uncaring attitude and convenience (that is, access to a convenient dumping location) as other important explanations.

Therefore, it is proposed under this bill that where a building work contractor is found guilty of illegal dumping, they face further disciplinary sanctions from the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs. Under the Building Work Contractors Act 1995, the commissioner may (1) suspend or cancel the person's licence or registration, or (2) impose conditions on the licence or registration.

I advise colleagues in this council that the Australian Conservatives undertook a very wide consultation for this bill, including consulting with the Housing Industry Association and Consumer and Business Services. Consumer and Business Services, in correspondence sent to our office, recognise that illegal dumping and theft on construction sites is problematic for the building industry and the need for a mechanism to inform the commissioner about offences of illegal disposal of material in order for disciplinary action to be pursued.

According to the Housing Industry Association, builders consider illegal dumping as theft of the space within the waste bin. Where there is a nine cubic metre bin placed on site for construction waste, the cost of disposal can be approximately $450 for one bin. One builder recently reported an empty bin delivered to site on Friday was full by Monday morning with ordinary household material. Of course, the builder had to empty that bin at his cost of $450.

According to the Housing Industry Association, a custom-built domestic house in South Australia could now end up having five bins on site during construction and, depending on the number of houses built per year, the cost accumulates. One builder reported their cost at $600,000 a year. Another reported their cost at $400,000, and another reported their cost at $200,000. Large-volume builders complete about 1,000 homes per year, so the cost of dealing with illegal dumping can be quite considerable. Based on estimations, there are around 10,000 houses built in South Australia every year, so we are talking about millions of dollars.

Theft and dumping are widespread and a major issue. Building companies are now paying $30,000 excess on their insurance premiums, which is an expense that would have to be passed on to the consumer. It has come to the point that SAPOL's crime prevention coordination unit and the industry are working together to address the issue, and I commend South Australia Police for the work they are doing with the building industry. They had a workshop on 27 October 2015 and have now decided to organise a building site network group made up of industry and SAPOL members. The first of which was held on 23 February at police headquarters.

Dumping on building sites is a major problem that is now probably worse than thefts from sites, although thefts from building sites is another problem. People dump carpets, televisions, car engines—you name it. They come on the site with four-wheel drives and trailers and dump it in the skips. Even temporary fences do not seem to stop people from doing so. Some builders have resorted to staking out sites at night. According to reports from the Housing Industry Association, on one site a supervisor actually confronted the intruders and unfortunately was bashed.

There are legitimate concerns that not enough is being done about illegal dumping and that current legislation falls short of addressing the issue. Supporting this bill sends a message to the community that illegal dumping will not be tolerated. I look forward to contributions from colleagues during the course of the debate before a vote on this in the last session of this particular parliament.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.E. Hanson.

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