Coalition Senators' Dissenting Report

Introduction

1.1It gives us no pleasure to have to make them. Nevertheless, the Coalition believes it is necessary to place on the record a number of reflections about this inquiry process.

1.2The first is that we are disappointed that we have been left with very limited opportunity to see the full, final version of the majority report before submitting these comments.

1.3It is bad enough that all non-Greens Senators were expected to respond to the final content of a more than 200-page report with completely inadequate notice. It is worse that we were left in this position in the midst of an election campaign.

1.4There was also no discussion or consultation with the Coalition on any of what has turned into a laundry list of recommendations that almost wholly push for more bureaucracy, more administrative bodies, more taskforces, more meetings, and more green and red tape. Some of those recommendations also variously misunderstand previous decisions, actions and processes.

1.5As is clear from almost all of the evidence presented to this inquiry, most key stakeholders, and Australians more generally, are interested in serious action and outcomes on recycling and waste issues. They are not interested in more buckpassing and bureaucracy. They are (very justifiably) tired of politicians kicking more cans down more roads and continuing to hinder and delay meaningful, enduring reforms.

1.6If implemented, some of the recommendations will even trigger a series of additional costs and compliance pressures for affected stakeholders. It is also highly likely that some of these additional costs will be passed on to Australian businesses and households, particularly in the form of higher local government rates and levies associated with waste collection.

1.7All of that leaves us having to make clear to the participants in this inquiry, and all of the people who come to read them, that this set of Coalition comments is significantly less expansive and insightful than we had wanted it to be.Moreover, there will presumably be various parts of the final majority report that should, in normal circumstances, have been addressed by us—but that we have not had an adequate opportunity to thoroughly review.

1.8We regret that we are not able to more faithfully reflect upon those participants’ evidence to the inquiry and their best interests in respect of future reform.

1.9We are also dismayed that, not for the first time in relation to committee reports in this parliamentary term, the Chair has sought to present an impression that it was the Greens who were the sole instigators of this inquiry. That is patently untrue. The reality is that the inquiry was jointly established, with them, by the Coalition. The Senate Hansard of 28 February 2024 demonstrates that this is the case—verifying that the relevant motion was co-sponsored.

1.10We have increasingly come to suspect that the Greens have been intent (maybe even since the time of the inquiry’s commencement) on hijacking this entire committee process in order to use the final report as a political prop for their own election campaign announcement on recycling policies.

1.11In a similar vein, it should be noted that the Greens spent an excruciating amount of time in this inquiry trying to make various attacks on the former Coalition government.

1.12This included trying to impute that the Morrison Government had somehow unilaterally decided, in government, to implement a waste export ban.

1.13Incredibly embarrassingly for the Greens, even some basic research or even a basic understanding of the history would have made clear to them that the waste export ban was the very opposite of a unilateral or nefarious decision.

1.14Instead, it reflected an agreement made by the then-Council of Australian Governments in March 2020. As part of a collective response by all nine Australian governments, and the Australian Local Government Association, to the so-called 'National Sword crisis' of 2018, that agreement committed each of Australia’s Commonwealth, state and territory jurisdictions to ban the export of waste plastic, glass, tyres and paper.

Future reform

1.15All of that said, we wish to place on record our gratitude to all of the people and all of the organisations who gave up their time to contribute to, and participate in, this inquiry. We would also like to particularly thank those individuals and organisations who originally suggested to us that such an inquiry was needed.

1.16As is outlined in the majority report, there have historically been many reviews and inquiries into recycling policies and laws over many years.

1.17This one has nevertheless come at a particularly important time.

1.18As was canvassed a number of times throughout the inquiry, there has been significantly stalled progress over this parliamentary term in relation to policies on recycling, waste and waste recovery and reuse. There has also been little, if any, serious discussion or consultation with many key stakeholders from the Environment Minister or any other minister of the Albanese Government.

1.19In our experience, most of them are exasperated and frustrated by what has been three years of near-complete inaction between May 2022 and May 2025.

1.20This has created a number of problems that need to be urgently addressed. In particular, there needs to be serious, sustained work to address the fact that Australia’s recycling laws, policies and priorities are currently too disjointed, fragmented and inconsistent—and substantial improvements are required, including in the form of national harmonisation.

1.21Recent population increases (fuelled by unsustainable levels of migration into the country) have also created new surges in the quantities of waste generation in Australia, and placed extra pressure on our domestic recycling capabilities and infrastructure.

1.22Accordingly, landfill sites are under ever-increasing strain from the rising quantities of waste that are being dumped there.

1.23There is also an urgent and growing need for Australian governments and policy makers to address the increasing incidence and dangers (especially for workers in Australia’s waste sector) of fires caused by discarded products containing lithium batteries.

1.24Many other important matters—including around the REDcycle crisis, and packaging reform—were also left unresolved in the lead-up to the federal election on 3 May.

1.25It is true that this is a difficult and challenging policy area in itself for federal governments. Not least that is because Australia’s system of government vests most power in respect of recycling and waste issues in the state and territory jurisdictions.

1.26However, the views of many well-informed people and organisations about possible, practical ways of addressing that problem, and many other challenges, have largely been ignored—let alone acted upon.

1.27After our loss at the 2022 federal election, the Coalition had genuinely hoped that the incoming Labor government would have been able to build on much of our own work from our years in government in tackling these problems.

1.28In the decade to 2019, the Commonwealth government spent approximately $30million on waste initiatives. By contrast, in the final term of the Morrison Government, we spent more than $500 million.

1.29In government, the Coalition made the most significant investment in recycling in Australia’s history, paving the way for the delivery of over $250 million through the Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF). This was designed to help unlock more than $1 billion in combined investment with the states and territories and the private sector.

1.30Yet subsequently, under Labor, there has been no substantive new money allocated, nor new programs or initiatives devised.

1.31Some of the recommendations in the majority report touch, in a small way, on these points. We do agree with the point that an evaluation of the RMF would be a sensible step—and would help in quantifying exactly how many jobs were created and exactly how effectively it boosted Australia’s capacity to recycle our own waste.

1.32However, the majority report largely baulks at any practical, immediate action.

1.33In short, the most important upshot of this inquiry should have been multipartisan agreement on sensible ways forward.

1.34Instead, a partisan approach has been adopted by the Greens—and no attempt has been made by them to work on constructive, collaborative solutions with us.

1.35There could and should have been a genuine focus on addressing various current policy failures; reducing levels of waste in Australia and improving the settings for industry investment in recycling and waste management and recovery; and minimising the financial burden of such policies to local government, businesses and households amid the current cost of living crisis.

1.36It is ironic that the Greens have chosen to title the majority report as 'No time to waste'. Sadly, much of this inquiry has degenerated into a waste of many people’s goodwill and time.

Senator the Hon Jonathon Duniam

Member

Senator Leah Blyth

Member