The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) has launched a campaign to urge the Queensland Government to bin a new state waste levy for waste sent to landfill.
The peak body for Queensland’s councils is using an animated ibis – or ‘bin chicken’ – to call for the bin tax to be scrapped.
Across Queensland, the 19 councils and their communities who will face an almost $30 million reduction in offset payments from today are: Brisbane City Council, Bundaberg Regional Council, Cairns Regional Council, Gladstone Regional Council, Gold Coast City Council, Ipswich City Council, Logan City Council, Mackay Regional Council, Noosa Shire Council, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Sunshine Coast Regional Council, Toowoomba Regional Council, Townsville City Council, Somerset Regional Council, Moreton Bay City Council, Redland City Council, Rockhampton Regional Council, Lockyer Valley Regional Council, and Fraser Coast Regional Council.
“From July 1, millions of Queenslanders will be forced to pay a state waste levy – a bin tax – for the waste they send to landfill,” said LGAQ Chief Executive Officer, Alison Smith.
“Some councils are already being slugged with the bin tax while others will join them from today.
“This is happening because councils in waste levy zones will no longer receive the 100% offset which has been paid by the state. That offset has been paid to councils in order to prevent the levy being applied to household bins.
“However that is all changing, with the offset dropping to 70% for some councils this financial year, and the offset amount forecast to drop each year going forwards unless the State Government agrees to a reset.”
“If you’re in the waste levy zone, your council will be forced to choose between passing the cost on to ratepayers, or having less money for council services like parks, libraries and community facilities,” Ms Smith said.
The waste levy is part of the State Government’s plan to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill and to increase recycling.
“However, when the former State Government first introduced plans to reduce the levy offset paid to councils, it made two promises – ensuring the levy has no direct impact on households, and that a $2.1 billion investment into recycling options and other markets for kerbside waste occurrs to ensure households had the options they needed to divert waste out of their bins in order to avoid the tax,” said Ms Smith.
“That investment and those options are not in place, meaning households don’t have appropriate waste diversion options,” she said.
This financial year the recent State Budget shows an estimated $477 million in revenue will be generated by the state government from the waste levy.
“Councils are calling for a reset,” Ms Smith said.
“We welcome the launch of a new Queensland Waste Strategy that is currently out for public consultation, but we are calling for a pause on any reduction to the waste levy offset payments to councils until this review is completed.”
The LGAQ today launched a Bin the Tax campaign, spearheaded by Queensland’s iconic and ironic waste expert, Chooky the Bin Chicken.
“Don’t dump the cost on ratepayers; bin the tax, it stinks,” is the start of Chooky’s commentary on the bin tax.
Fraser Coast Mayor, George Seymour said the Queensland Government’s cost-shifting would force Fraser Coast Regional Council to pass on $1 million in extra costs to local households this financial year alone, and more than $22 million over the next six years.
“The Queensland Government says the waste tax helps reduce landfill and support recycling, but they’re cutting funding before regional councils have the infrastructure or support to meet their waste reduction and recycling targets,” he said.
“We strongly support better recycling, and we have already invested $31 million in a new state-of-the-art Materials Recovery Facility in Maryborough, without a single dollar of support from the Queensland or Australian governments.
“Now we’re being asked to do more, with less, and pay more for it. That’s simply not fair to our community.”
Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate said Councils had no option but to pass the levy on to ratepayers at a time when cost of living continues to hit hard.
“Whilst the current State Government are still in their first year, and it was the previous Government that introduced the waste levy, I urge the Government to partner with local government across Queensland to deliver outcomes that benefit the environment and reduce costs in the longer term,” he said.
Redland City Mayor Jos Mitchell said the widening waste levy funding gap created by the successive Queensland Governments was forecast to rise to $2.2 million in 2025–2026 for Redland City, and to $8.6 million by 2030-31.
“Redland City Council, like other Queensland councils, will struggle to bridge this increasing gap, while the impacts are borne by ratepayers already feeling the stress of a cost-of-living crisis,” she said.
Scenic Rim Mayor, Tom Sharp said insights gained from the SEQ Council of Mayors’ overseas mission in February – which included Singapore’s newest waste facility now diverting up to 800 tonnes of waste from landfill each day, minimising community and environmental impacts and achieving significant advances towards a circular economy – highlighted the urgent need for improved waste management infrastructure for South East Queensland.
“It is nearing crunch time for South East Queensland, and indeed the whole of Queensland, as the State Government’s waste levy continues to increase along with its growing impact on ratepayers,” Mayor Sharp said.
“It also means councils will effectively become tax collectors on behalf of the state.
“If the government’s priority is not to continue to go down the path of landfill, it’s the responsibility of the state to fund the solution, not make councils collectors on its behalf.”
Toowoomba Mayor, Geoff McDonald said the State Government’s Waste Levy Bin Tax will impact Toowoomba Region ratepayers with a $4.2 million funding shortfall this financial year.
“Coupled with a $1 million freight cost for Toowoomba Region recycled material to be taken for processing to the Sunshine Coast, the cost equates to a 3 per cent rate increase for every rateable property across our region,” he said.
