Mr Pallas  (Tarneit)  — The matter I  wish to raise is  for  the Minister for Environment and Climate Change. The action I seek  is  that the minister clarify the current state  of the government’s relief  to charities under  the  landfill levy  rebate scheme  — that  is, the $1.5 million scheme which was announced in September last  year  —  and  also  the  $500 000  surveillance  support  trial announced in April this year. Essentially, what I ask of the minister is that he clarify whether  these schemes are  continuing,  being discontinued  or  in some other way being altered.

The  landfill levy,  which  raises  revenue that  goes  in part towards  funding education programs and  waste management infrastructure, also provides  capacity for waste  management groups  and  Environment Protection  Authority enforcement programs, as well as encouraging waste minimisation and the use of  alternatives to  landfill. In the 2011-12 budget it was announced that  the  Treasurer  would bring forward by 12 months the increased landfill levy rates as announced by the previous government.

One of the indirect consequences of the landfill levy is the impact on charities such  as the  Salvation Army,  St Vincent  de Paul  and the  Brotherhood  of  St Laurence, which bear the cost of  having to  get rid  of illegally dumped goods, meaning  that they are paying the landfill levy on other people’s rubbish, which is  money  they  could  be  spending  on  assisting  vulnerable members  of  our community.

To  deal  with  this  issue, in September 2012 the Minister for Environment  and Climate Change announced a $1.5 million  grant program for  charitable recycling organisations. On 29 January  this year the minister  announced the second round of funding for charities to recover the costs of illegally dumped material. This announcement   noted that the   coalition government had  committed  to the $1.5 million landfill levy relief for charities.

In  the announcement  the  minister said, ‘We  are  providing $1.5  million  for landfill  levy  relief  to  help  charities  prevent  illegal  dumping  at their premises’. According to the charities, the rebate covers 30 per cent of the cost of getting rid of  the rubbish, and without it charities will bear the  brunt of illegal  landfill  dumping.  Despite  this,  reports  have  surfaced   that  the government is considering abolishing the rebate scheme.

In  a discussion on radio 3AW on Tuesday the  minister argued that it was only a pilot program that covers a handful of bins and that the CCTV cameras are only a small part of fixing the problem. This actually  refers  to an announcement made on 3 April, which was about $500  000 to go towards security and a  trial, which is a completely separate program from the one being discussed at the time.

It  seems  that the minister either misrepresented to the listeners or does  not know what program  his department  is in  fact running.  He did  not address the question of the rebate fund, which is what  the  charities  are  most  concerned about.  I  ask  the  minister  to  clarify  the  situation  of the landfill levy charitable rebate.

See Tim’s speech in Hansard here.