High level trailer-trash talks in Rocky after public backlash to soaring costs
The Qld Environment Minister and Rockhampton mayor met for frank discussions over waste levy changes that will cost dump users an estimated $1m extra over the next 12 months.
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Queensland Environment Minister Andrew Powell met Rockhampton Mayor Tony Williams today, Tuesday June 3, for frank discussions over funding changes that will cost the region’s domestic dump users an estimated $1m over the next 12 months.
The mayor had accused the LNP Government of a “tax grab” last week after the state slashed its rebate for Rockhampton’s domestic landfill users by 30 per cent in 2024/25 resulting in a loss of $1m to the region.
Council reacted by pumping up prices by as much as 44 per cent a trailer load from July 1 to cover the loss in rebate revenue, causing a backlash from residents.
Some of the increased landfill fees for domestic waste:
- 240 litre wheelie bin, car boot sedan/SUV or station wagons -$20 to $23
- Trailer 6x4, utility, tray back, van, – $31 to $39
- Larger trailer or 6x4 trailer or ute using hungry boards – $36 to $52
- Truck, tandem axle horse float – $118 to $161 a tonne
But Mr Powell said Rockhampton “should not have been surprised” by the 30 per cent reduction in domestic landfill rebates as it had been outlined in legislation introduced by Labor in 2019.
Mr Powell refused to allow Rockhampton any leeway for more time to prepare for the impact of reduced funding, which will steadily reduce by 80 per cent over the next six years, but said he was focused on helping the region finance solutions for long-term waste reduction.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Mayor Tony Williams,” he said.
“I’ve just literally walked out of a meeting with him and I’m here to work with him. I don’t disagree with a lot of what he’s shared, but apart from one point, he’s made out that this is a new tax. It’s not. It was legislated back in 2019 and that included the rebate rates that he’s referring to. They were baked into Labor’s legislation. They’ve had six years (to prepare).”
The yearly impact of the waste charge on Rockhampton Region is expected to grow to $2.9m within six years and Mr Powell said it was a matter for Rockhampton if it decided to pass costs onto landfill users.
The waste rebate reduction is affecting larger councils, including Rockhampton, Fraser Coast, Bundaberg, Cairns, Gladstone, Mackay and Townsville.
Mr Powell said Rockhampton had already received $17.5m in domestic waste rebate fees funded by the commercial waste levy since 2019/20, which included advanced payments of $4m to 2027/28 at the newly reduced rates.
He said Rockhampton appeared to have carried an expectation that the rebate system was going to be extended given previous decisions by the Labor Government, but that money was not in the state budget.
“The reality is that I’m looking at the budget and Labor had made no contingency for that,” Mr Powell said.
“Labor had not put aside any money to continue to top up the councils.
“What the previous government didn’t do was work with councils like Rockhampton city council to come up with (general) waste diversion solutions.”
Mr Powell said an example of this would be working on material recovery facilities and collecting that from Gladstone, Rockhampton and Mackay councils through one centralised base.
He said to assist with that type of investment, the LNP Government was providing a $130m fund (from next year) to work with councils like Rockhampton on establishing waste diverting solutions for landfill.
“If we can divert (waste) away from landfill, Rockhampton doesn’t pay the (waste levy) and they don’t need to pass it (the landfill cost) on to the ratepayers,” Mr Powell said.
“I’ve said to those councils that would need to truck their waste to that recovery facility, we would consider a substation program around those costs. So everything’s on the table and I’m here to find solutions.”
He said one of the possible initiatives were large waste-to-energy incinerators and that type of infrastructure could be introduced as “quickly as possible”.
“It’s proven technology in Europe and Singapore’s cracking along with the technologies there,” Mr Powell said.
“We’ve got a government that’s willing to work with councils around planning approvals to fast-track these things.”
He said the government’s draft waste strategy was also available, asking questions on how to better assist councils with waste management.
“Is it about educating the public, or what can we do to divert organic waste, as that is a huge contributor?” Mr Powell said.
‘The Gladstone mayor is going to try and get organics out of his landfill and that will be a huge savings for his region and we’re going to work with him on that solution.”
However, the current reality for Rockhampton is that there are no current solutions in place for increasing waste diversion so at this time the costs will be absorbed by landfill users.
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