Andrew Powell
The State Government has officially dumped the former Labor Government’s controversial waste levy by passing legislation in State Parliament today.
Environment Minister Andrew Powell said the waste levy was simply an extra cost that put strain on the economy at a time when the government needed to foster growth.
“Earlier this year, in line with our election commitment, we amended the regulation to ensure the levy was $0 from July 1. Today we removed that legislation for good,” he said.
“While the State cannot control the gate fees of individual disposal sites, by removing this poorly managed waste tax we are doing what we can to help business and local councils lower their costs.
“This was simply a cash-grab by the former government that delivered no tangible environmental benefit and, in effect, encouraged illegal dumping.
“As we have seen just a few days ago during Clean-Up Australia Day, people will dump their rubbish in forests, on charities, and in National Parks in order to avoid waste site fees.”
Mr Powell said the Waste Reduction and Recycling and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 also introduced further measures to reduce “green tape”.
“Again I stress this is not about lowering environmental standards, it is about streamlining processes and increasing transparency within our regulatory framework,” he said.
“These amendments will give greater flexibility for industry to grow, but they also ensure that it is also easier for regulators within the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection to identify any parties who fail to meet those standards.
“As we have seen with recent prosecutions, we will strongly pursue any company that does not comply with any environmental conditions.”
