Mr WOOD - 2002-08-13
Madam Speaker, this question is on behalf of yourself as the member for Braitling, and it is an excellent question.
On 22 May this year, you tabled a report in parliament from a steering committee on container deposit legislation. You said then your department would investigate the issues raised in the report and that you would present an options paper to Cabinet. Later that day, you told ABC radio the options would go to Cabinet in three to four months. Could the minister please tell the House if you have taken an options paper to Cabinet, and when the government will be announcing publicly whether it will be introducing container deposit legislation?
ANSWER
Yes, I made the statement to parliament and, no, I have not taken anything to Cabinet yet for the simple reason that my office of Environment and Heritage has not finalised analysis of the report. There are very important reasons for it because, unfortunately or fortunately, the Territory is different from other states which have introduced container deposit legislation. One of the main concerns was that if we introduce container deposit legislation, what will be the effect on the Territory, on the environment and will it benefit all Territorians?
There are associated issues with containers: we have to collect them, put them somewhere and then transport them somewhere so they can be reused. Some of the concerns, for example, were: where are we going to store the containers in the north of the Northern Territory? What would we need to actually store these containers safely, because we have seasons, we have cyclones and the last thing you need is containers flying through the community or communities if they are not stored properly.
I have asked my department to have a look at all the issues identified by the committee and analyse them, and to find out our legal obligations and responsibility with regard to these issues. I understand it is a complex problem. I personally support container deposit legislation. I grew up in a country where container deposit legislation is in place and has been used for the past 20, 30, 40 years, and I would like to see something like that in place in the Territory, but not until I can be satisfied that it is going to benefit all Territorians.
On 22 May this year, you tabled a report in parliament from a steering committee on container deposit legislation. You said then your department would investigate the issues raised in the report and that you would present an options paper to Cabinet. Later that day, you told ABC radio the options would go to Cabinet in three to four months. Could the minister please tell the House if you have taken an options paper to Cabinet, and when the government will be announcing publicly whether it will be introducing container deposit legislation?
ANSWER
Yes, I made the statement to parliament and, no, I have not taken anything to Cabinet yet for the simple reason that my office of Environment and Heritage has not finalised analysis of the report. There are very important reasons for it because, unfortunately or fortunately, the Territory is different from other states which have introduced container deposit legislation. One of the main concerns was that if we introduce container deposit legislation, what will be the effect on the Territory, on the environment and will it benefit all Territorians?
There are associated issues with containers: we have to collect them, put them somewhere and then transport them somewhere so they can be reused. Some of the concerns, for example, were: where are we going to store the containers in the north of the Northern Territory? What would we need to actually store these containers safely, because we have seasons, we have cyclones and the last thing you need is containers flying through the community or communities if they are not stored properly.
I have asked my department to have a look at all the issues identified by the committee and analyse them, and to find out our legal obligations and responsibility with regard to these issues. I understand it is a complex problem. I personally support container deposit legislation. I grew up in a country where container deposit legislation is in place and has been used for the past 20, 30, 40 years, and I would like to see something like that in place in the Territory, but not until I can be satisfied that it is going to benefit all Territorians.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016