Mr HIGGINS - 2014-03-27
Can you update the House on what this Country Liberals government is doing to improve the clunky container deposit legislation we inherited from Labor?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. I will be very careful how I answer this because I do not want to pre-empt debate. This is up for further debate during this sittings and next sittings.
Yesterday I gave notice of a bill which will dramatically simplify the sorting process for depots, something I have been striving to do since taking on the Environment portfolio.
The Container Deposit Scheme we inherited from Labor was clunky; it was complicated and illegal. When the scheme was launched there was great fanfare, there was a clever 10 coin flyer in everyone’s letterbox and full page ads in the paper – it was all very nice. However, I wish those opposite had invested as much time and effort in the development of the scheme as they did in marketing it. Perhaps we would not have ended up in front of a judge. The Northern Territory government was taken to court ...
Ms Lawrie: You backflipped.
Ms Fyles: You dropped the ball and forget to get the letters.
Mr CHANDLER: After the federal Court struck down the scheme …
Ms Lawrie: You said you supported it and then you didn’t.
Mr CHANDLER: Does this woman ever listen?
Mr Tollner: Calm down, please.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Fong Lim!
Mr CHANDLER: After the federal court struck down the scheme, this government, through the hard work of our NT EPA, resurrected it by negotiating with every state - as well as the Commonwealth - to receive an exemption from the Mutual Recognition (Northern Territory) Act. It was not easy, but I was committed to making the scheme work.
This work only got us back to square one. The NT EPA and I embarked on developing new legislation which would make the scheme easier to use and pave the way for more collection depots. It made me very proud yesterday when I was able to introduce amendments to do that.
These amendments will bring about an improved scheme which will promote recycling in our community. We will see the number of required splits – that is, how many different categories depots need to sort their products - reduced from 24 to a maximum of nine. This is being done by removing the requirement to sort containers by manufacturer, instead just sorting by material - glass, tin, plastic etcetera.
Depots will now be required to have an agreement with one coordinator, a measure which has proved prohibitive for some depots. These changes will make the system easier for depots, but more importantly will cut down on the wait times for Territorians who want to be responsible and recycle their containers.
The scheme is very popular. It has become increasingly difficult to partake in the benefits. Due to the disruption of the scheme through its rocky beginning, some depots closed and have not reopened. This is especially the case in our regional and remote areas, where the impacts of existing systems are compounded with the lack of volume to cover costs of running a depot.
I am excited and, as the minister, I will continue to look for areas where our environmental practices can be improved and strengthened. I am like everyone else in this House, committed to protecting our precious environment.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. I will be very careful how I answer this because I do not want to pre-empt debate. This is up for further debate during this sittings and next sittings.
Yesterday I gave notice of a bill which will dramatically simplify the sorting process for depots, something I have been striving to do since taking on the Environment portfolio.
The Container Deposit Scheme we inherited from Labor was clunky; it was complicated and illegal. When the scheme was launched there was great fanfare, there was a clever 10 coin flyer in everyone’s letterbox and full page ads in the paper – it was all very nice. However, I wish those opposite had invested as much time and effort in the development of the scheme as they did in marketing it. Perhaps we would not have ended up in front of a judge. The Northern Territory government was taken to court ...
Ms Lawrie: You backflipped.
Ms Fyles: You dropped the ball and forget to get the letters.
Mr CHANDLER: After the federal Court struck down the scheme …
Ms Lawrie: You said you supported it and then you didn’t.
Mr CHANDLER: Does this woman ever listen?
Mr Tollner: Calm down, please.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Fong Lim!
Mr CHANDLER: After the federal court struck down the scheme, this government, through the hard work of our NT EPA, resurrected it by negotiating with every state - as well as the Commonwealth - to receive an exemption from the Mutual Recognition (Northern Territory) Act. It was not easy, but I was committed to making the scheme work.
This work only got us back to square one. The NT EPA and I embarked on developing new legislation which would make the scheme easier to use and pave the way for more collection depots. It made me very proud yesterday when I was able to introduce amendments to do that.
These amendments will bring about an improved scheme which will promote recycling in our community. We will see the number of required splits – that is, how many different categories depots need to sort their products - reduced from 24 to a maximum of nine. This is being done by removing the requirement to sort containers by manufacturer, instead just sorting by material - glass, tin, plastic etcetera.
Depots will now be required to have an agreement with one coordinator, a measure which has proved prohibitive for some depots. These changes will make the system easier for depots, but more importantly will cut down on the wait times for Territorians who want to be responsible and recycle their containers.
The scheme is very popular. It has become increasingly difficult to partake in the benefits. Due to the disruption of the scheme through its rocky beginning, some depots closed and have not reopened. This is especially the case in our regional and remote areas, where the impacts of existing systems are compounded with the lack of volume to cover costs of running a depot.
I am excited and, as the minister, I will continue to look for areas where our environmental practices can be improved and strengthened. I am like everyone else in this House, committed to protecting our precious environment.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016