Liberal candidate says party does not agree with the Boral tip expansion, but reluctant to make a commitment

A LIBERAL candidate standing in next month’s election says the State Government is reluctant to call in the Boral landfill expansion application for fears of legal action.

The Melton/Brimbank community it celebrating Melton Councils decision to refuse Boral's application to expand its landfill. Marion Martin and Sean McAlpine Jones has spearheaded Stop the Tip campaign. Picture: Adam Elwood

A LIBERAL candidate standing in next month’s election says the State Government is reluctant to call in the Boral landfill expansion application for fears of legal action.

St Albans liberal candidate Moira-Louise Deeming told residents at the Stop the Tip candidate forum last night that they should also consider launching civil action against Boral.

Thrown in at the deep end after Western Metropolitan Region Liberal MP Bernie Finn failed to turn up, an apologetic Ms Deeming said she did not have the answers the crowd was looking for.

She said the Liberal Party does not agree with the tip expansion, but was reluctant to make any commitment against it for fear of potential legal action.

“The application could be called in, an independent panel could be established and the application could still go ahead,’’ Ms Deeming said.

“If we challenge this application we could be sued and it could go ahead anyway, that’s the only reason why we are not making promises we may not be able to keep.” - Moira-Louise Deeming.

“I’m sorry this is not what you want to hear but I’m just being honest and this is what I’ve been told,” she said.

Asked how the government planned to tackle public safety and health issues already surrounding the tip, Ms Deeming suggested civil action should be considered.

“The only thing companies like this understand is money, so keep up the pressure,” she said.

Residents branded her response “offensive” saying the Liberals have thrown up their hands and it was not good enough.

Kororoit state Labor MP Marlene Kairouz was the only candidate able to outline a plan for the future, stating that if re-elected to government, the Labor Party would immediately call in any expansion application submitted by Boral.

She said an independent panel would be established to review the application and would take into consideration submissions from the public before making a recommendation to the Planning Minister, who will have the final say.

Greens upper house candidate for Western Metropolitan Dinesh Jayasuriya said the Greens position was simple and straight forward.

“We will fight against the tip no matter which government gets in; it’s as simple as that.”

The state election is on November 29.