Page 2369 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 August 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
There are a number of enforcement provisions in the bill and, given that there was no feedback received on them—my original reading of the bill was that some of them were too strict—I am sure they will stand as they are.
We have had notification of a minor technical amendment from the minister. It is unfortunate that it came through quite late, but I understand that the amendment to the bill is necessary so that it is very clear that members of the broader community are not covered by the provisions which are intended to apply only to the waste management industry. So it is good to get that clarity but it is a pity it was not included in the original bill and, therefore, did not go through the scrutiny process. But from my reading of it, it does make clearer whom it relates to.
I do have some other remaining questions. For example, I understand that there has been an internal review, I think by the Environment and Planning Directorate, of the current waste strategy. I do not think that review has become available to members of the Assembly. It would have been useful to hear about the success or otherwise of the current waste strategy in order to consider this new legislation. Are the targets in the current waste strategy being met? What is the current target for waste reduction? How will the Assembly be informed of success of the new legislation, in other words, how will we know whether this new legislation is working? Is there a review period? That is not currently in the legislation but it may be elsewhere in the department’s mindset.
Overall, the Canberra Liberals remain supportive of better waste management, as we have been many years. We will be watching the implementation of the bill closely, especially some implementation of the enforcement provisions. I again note that the PETAMS committee did not receive any submissions from stakeholders on the bill but the Canberra Liberals are pleased to support this bill today.
MS FITZHARRIS (Molonglo—Minister for Higher Education, Training and Research, Minister for Transport Canberra and City Services and Assistant Minister for Health) (5.23), in reply: I thank members for their contribution to the debate on this important bill. This legislation will modernise Canberra’s waste industry, achieve better resource recovery rates and make the ACT a cleaner place to live. It will encourage and promote responsible waste management practices and innovative waste industry opportunities and help make our waste sector carbon neutral. It has been developed following extensive industry and community consultation.
This bill will not impact on day-to-day household waste collections, but it will change the way the commercial waste sector operates by introducing incentives to manage the collection, storage, recovery and re-use of waste in the ACT.
This legislation will enable the government to gather data on waste so that we can better understand what happens to our waste and develop strategies to minimise it and to encourage more resource recovery. It will also encourage investment in waste facilities in the ACT to cater for waste streams such as mixed commercial waste and household residual wastes. Currently these are sent to landfill.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video