Mr KURRUPUWU - 2013-03-27
Can you please advise the House of some of the social and community benefits due to the government decision to underwrite continuation of the container deposit scheme?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question and will take this question also as Minister for Young Territorians. The not-for-profit sector has benefited from the revenue and income-raising aspects of this container deposit scheme. The government has put in $2m to keep this scheme going until we find out the result of the application for an exemption under the Mutual Recognition Act.
This is another Labor mess we have to clean up. We had to put in an extra $2m to get us through to a possible answer on the Mutual Recognition Act.
Community groups, committees, social clubs and sporting clubs collect containers to supplement their revenue schemes. In my electorate, the Sanderson Scouts have a fantastic can collection scheme and have done for many years. Also, 60% of returns from this sector - I will give some examples. The NT branch of the Vietnam Veterans Association and the north Australia branch of the RSL are raising up to $7000 per year which they use to help their legatees and youth.
Another source of return where Territorians are clearly benefiting from this scheme is through their community members, seniors, children, and families. Territorians work hard to utilise this scheme to help families raise funds to pay for family holidays, buy sporting equipment, and pay for extracurricular activities such as sports, school camps, etcetera.
We would like nothing more than to help young people, community groups and seniors; however, we have been slugged with a $5.5bn millstone costing us $750 000 per day due to the mismanagement of the previous Labor government.
In the debate we had when this scheme was brought in we clearly articulated our concerns to the then government, now opposition, and they did not listen. They did their deal with the member for Nelson, got this through, and we have a 12-month exemption with, possibly, nothing further than that. They have poured millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money into this to get it going. It is a great scheme.
The real environmental benefits of removing, recycling, and reusing more than 20 million containers previously going to waste are significant. An example is if we recycle one aluminium can we can save enough energy to run a television set for five hours. That is well worth doing. The benefits to this community are enormous.
We have to clean up the mess and fix the Mutual Recognition Act problem. The model was flawed. The idea is great and there is much support for recycling. Many people benefit from it. However, it is another mess we have to clean up ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question and will take this question also as Minister for Young Territorians. The not-for-profit sector has benefited from the revenue and income-raising aspects of this container deposit scheme. The government has put in $2m to keep this scheme going until we find out the result of the application for an exemption under the Mutual Recognition Act.
This is another Labor mess we have to clean up. We had to put in an extra $2m to get us through to a possible answer on the Mutual Recognition Act.
Community groups, committees, social clubs and sporting clubs collect containers to supplement their revenue schemes. In my electorate, the Sanderson Scouts have a fantastic can collection scheme and have done for many years. Also, 60% of returns from this sector - I will give some examples. The NT branch of the Vietnam Veterans Association and the north Australia branch of the RSL are raising up to $7000 per year which they use to help their legatees and youth.
Another source of return where Territorians are clearly benefiting from this scheme is through their community members, seniors, children, and families. Territorians work hard to utilise this scheme to help families raise funds to pay for family holidays, buy sporting equipment, and pay for extracurricular activities such as sports, school camps, etcetera.
We would like nothing more than to help young people, community groups and seniors; however, we have been slugged with a $5.5bn millstone costing us $750 000 per day due to the mismanagement of the previous Labor government.
In the debate we had when this scheme was brought in we clearly articulated our concerns to the then government, now opposition, and they did not listen. They did their deal with the member for Nelson, got this through, and we have a 12-month exemption with, possibly, nothing further than that. They have poured millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money into this to get it going. It is a great scheme.
The real environmental benefits of removing, recycling, and reusing more than 20 million containers previously going to waste are significant. An example is if we recycle one aluminium can we can save enough energy to run a television set for five hours. That is well worth doing. The benefits to this community are enormous.
We have to clean up the mess and fix the Mutual Recognition Act problem. The model was flawed. The idea is great and there is much support for recycling. Many people benefit from it. However, it is another mess we have to clean up ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016