Mr MITCHELL - 2001-05-30
Mr Speaker, I was interested to hear the Treasurer mention in yesterday’s budget speech that there will be an allocation for the investigation of container deposit legislation in the Territory. I know many kids would be interested in that. Can the minister explain and elaborate further on what is going on in that particular regard?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, there was an announcement yesterday in the budget for $100 000 to be ...
Mr Ah Kit: What page is that on, Tim?
Mr BALDWIN: Have you read anything, member for Arnhem?
Mr Ah Kit: What page is it on, Timmy? Do you know? Do you know, or do you need Mike to tell you?
Mr BALDWIN: Where are the books on your desk? Have you looked at anything in the budget? Do you know what your members are getting out there in your constituency?
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order, member for Arnhem!
Mr BALDWIN: Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The minister was directly addressing ...
Mr SPEAKER: I agree, yes, it was across Chamber, but the needling interjections from the opposition are just over the top at present.
Mr BALDWIN: Through you, Mr Speaker, if the member for Arnhem has even read one of these books, I would be very surprised. Does he know what is in them for his own constituents in the seat of Arnhem? If he doesn’t, he should be ashamed of himself.
Yesterday, there was a great announcement - $100 000 allocated for a survey to be conducted, an awareness program, a consultation program for Territorians in regard to whether there should be a container deposit scheme applied across the whole of the Territory sometime in the future. This obviously comes from much work by community organisations over quite a number of years, lobbying from the local government sector and a lot of work done by various government agencies looking into whether a container deposit scheme would be beneficial in the Northern Territory.
However, without canvassing Territorians about those views, I, and also my colleague, the Minister for Local Government, have been personally dealing with those industries around Australia and in the Northern Territory that have business in the packaging side of the industry. They obviously do not want to see a container deposit scheme of any sort.
The Northern Territory did not sign the national packaging covenant. And what a great move that was! We are the only state that stayed out of that and we were castigated for that at the time. On early evidence I can tell you that that national packaging covenant is not working around Australia and the money that the packaging industry is putting into that is not having a real effect in many jurisdictions.
Territory Tidy Towns, KAB and Landcare do a fantastic job in the Northern Territory. The litter program in the Northern Territory, developed particularly by KAB, is doing a great job. But it is not enough and we have to look at ways at which that can be ramped up. The great thing about the container deposit scheme is that there is obviously an incentive to pick up rubbish. How you apply that, to which containers, how you structure that sort of scheme, are the kind of things that we now want to fully investigate with Territorians. We want to create an awareness out there that there will be, if this introduced, a cost on some containers, depending on which ones you elect to apply it to.
There are also, apart from the cost impost, obvious benefits, not only litter being picked up, but the great benefit to the environment, with regard to landfill and the quality of materials going into those landfill systems.
Landcare, particularly Landcare in Katherine, is doing a great job in highlighting this issue, and in progressing the issue and government is listening to them. This CLP government is listening to what the people are saying. I took the opportunity to meet formally with KAB and Landcare this morning. Both of those organisations are very excited about this project. They are very excited about the moneys that ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I warn the member for Nhulunbuy once again. You are on a warning which will remain for the day.
Mr BALDWIN: They are very excited now about going out to the community formally so that they can canvass all of the views including industries’ views. Between now and when this money is available in the next budget, 1 July, we are going to develop the terms of reference including what cost impact this proposal might have on local manufacturing in the Northern Territory. It is very important to understand that there are two sides to this argument and the report that government receives has to be balanced and fair at the end of the day. We will then consider what support there is in the community and that obviously may lead to the introduction of formal legislation for a container deposit scheme in the Northern Territory.
Mr PALMER (Leader of Government Business): Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, there was an announcement yesterday in the budget for $100 000 to be ...
Mr Ah Kit: What page is that on, Tim?
Mr BALDWIN: Have you read anything, member for Arnhem?
Mr Ah Kit: What page is it on, Timmy? Do you know? Do you know, or do you need Mike to tell you?
Mr BALDWIN: Where are the books on your desk? Have you looked at anything in the budget? Do you know what your members are getting out there in your constituency?
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order, member for Arnhem!
Mr BALDWIN: Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The minister was directly addressing ...
Mr SPEAKER: I agree, yes, it was across Chamber, but the needling interjections from the opposition are just over the top at present.
Mr BALDWIN: Through you, Mr Speaker, if the member for Arnhem has even read one of these books, I would be very surprised. Does he know what is in them for his own constituents in the seat of Arnhem? If he doesn’t, he should be ashamed of himself.
Yesterday, there was a great announcement - $100 000 allocated for a survey to be conducted, an awareness program, a consultation program for Territorians in regard to whether there should be a container deposit scheme applied across the whole of the Territory sometime in the future. This obviously comes from much work by community organisations over quite a number of years, lobbying from the local government sector and a lot of work done by various government agencies looking into whether a container deposit scheme would be beneficial in the Northern Territory.
However, without canvassing Territorians about those views, I, and also my colleague, the Minister for Local Government, have been personally dealing with those industries around Australia and in the Northern Territory that have business in the packaging side of the industry. They obviously do not want to see a container deposit scheme of any sort.
The Northern Territory did not sign the national packaging covenant. And what a great move that was! We are the only state that stayed out of that and we were castigated for that at the time. On early evidence I can tell you that that national packaging covenant is not working around Australia and the money that the packaging industry is putting into that is not having a real effect in many jurisdictions.
Territory Tidy Towns, KAB and Landcare do a fantastic job in the Northern Territory. The litter program in the Northern Territory, developed particularly by KAB, is doing a great job. But it is not enough and we have to look at ways at which that can be ramped up. The great thing about the container deposit scheme is that there is obviously an incentive to pick up rubbish. How you apply that, to which containers, how you structure that sort of scheme, are the kind of things that we now want to fully investigate with Territorians. We want to create an awareness out there that there will be, if this introduced, a cost on some containers, depending on which ones you elect to apply it to.
There are also, apart from the cost impost, obvious benefits, not only litter being picked up, but the great benefit to the environment, with regard to landfill and the quality of materials going into those landfill systems.
Landcare, particularly Landcare in Katherine, is doing a great job in highlighting this issue, and in progressing the issue and government is listening to them. This CLP government is listening to what the people are saying. I took the opportunity to meet formally with KAB and Landcare this morning. Both of those organisations are very excited about this project. They are very excited about the moneys that ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I warn the member for Nhulunbuy once again. You are on a warning which will remain for the day.
Mr BALDWIN: They are very excited now about going out to the community formally so that they can canvass all of the views including industries’ views. Between now and when this money is available in the next budget, 1 July, we are going to develop the terms of reference including what cost impact this proposal might have on local manufacturing in the Northern Territory. It is very important to understand that there are two sides to this argument and the report that government receives has to be balanced and fair at the end of the day. We will then consider what support there is in the community and that obviously may lead to the introduction of formal legislation for a container deposit scheme in the Northern Territory.
Mr PALMER (Leader of Government Business): Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016