Premier ‘alarmed’ NSW sending waste to Queensland to avoid landfill levy

AN ‘ALARMED’ Queensland Premier has responded to allegations the Sunshine State is being used as a dumping ground.

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk will discuss the “alarming allegations” of organised networks shifting rubbish to Queensland with her New South Wales counterpart and said the state would not be dumping ground for its neighbour.

An ABC Four Corners report, aired on Monday night, detailed an organised network of waste transporting and freight companies were sending waste to Queensland in a bid to avoid a NSW landfill levy.

It comes after The Courier-Mail revealed in February last year that 400,000 tonnes of waste was being sent from NSW each year as Queensland becomes a tip for its southern neighbours.

The Newman government’s axing of the waste levy had made it a dumper’s paradise and industry insiders said it was a “national disgrace” that’s been embraced by big business, The Courier-Mail reported.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will have words with her NSW counterpart. Picture: Annette Dew

It is now reportedly cheaper to transport the waste to Queensland than pay the NSW levy of $138 per tonne.

Ms Palaszczuk said she will be discussing the “non-enforcement of the proximity principle” with the NSW Premier.

“I want to work cooperatively with the New South Wales Government,” Ms Palaszczuk said of the Four Corners report.

“Our cross border agreement commits us to “consistent action on waste management”,”

“Queensland will not be the dumping ground for New South Wales waste.”

The proximity principle is a law in NSW that makes it an offence to transport waste created in the state more than 150km from where it was generated unless the nearest lawful disposal facility is further.