Page 2120 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 5 June 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
container deposit scheme and opposed more recycling, including our green bin waste service. Our government will always invest in increasing the rates of recycling in our city. That is the approach we take. Under the Liberals you will see more material go to landfill, including more plastics. They also oppose the work we are doing to phase out single-use plastics. That is in stark contrast to their colleagues in the commonwealth, where a dedicated minister for reducing waste has now been appointed. It would be fantastic if the Canberra Liberals took the same approach.
MR PARTON: Minister, how can Canberrans be confident there will not be any more logistical challenges within your directorate that derail your forecast outcomes?
MR STEEL: Because we have been working with logistics experts to deal with the amount of waste that is coming into our landfill. In the budget yesterday we funded a new hard stand that will be built to take the baled recycled material at the MRF and expand the service. We are undertaking a review of the materials recovery facility and we have been working very closely with the MRF operator, Re.Group, to address the safety issues. As a result the MRF has been operating very efficiently. We will continue to work with them as this national waste crisis continues.
What we have seen in Victoria is much more of a problem than in other states around the country, where local governments have been land filling recycled material—massive amounts of it—because they simply cannot find a market for that material. Here in the ACT we have been finding those markets quite successfully, and we will continue to make sure that we grow our container deposit scheme so that we have cleaner waste streams and we can access good markets.
We are recycling that material. We are trialling the use of that material in our road base, and I announced to Roads Australia that we will be looking to include that material in all of our roads in the ACT. We are looking at how we can procure that at the moment. The community can be very confident that our government is getting on with the responsible management of waste in the ACT.
Municipal services—cemeteries
MR HANSON: My question is to the Minister for City Services. In January the Canberra Times reported that you had instructed the city services directorate to investigate the Norwood Park Crematorium and the ACT cemeteries authority after a number of cremated ashes had gone missing. How can Canberrans be confident in laying their loved ones to rest in our city when their remains go missing?
MR STEEL: I thank Mr Hanson for his question. The regulator of cemeteries has been investigating the matter of the missing ashes at the privately operated Norwood crematorium. The report is currently being finalised in consultation with both Norwood Park and the affected families involved. I look forward to the regulator releasing that report tomorrow.
MR HANSON: Minister, will the report that is released be made available to members of the Assembly?
MR STEEL: Yes, it will be.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video