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Thursday, 27 August 2020
Page: 5755

Ms LEY (Farrer—Minister for the Environment) (10:46): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The waste export ban will commence with the regulation of waste glass exports from 1 January 2021. This will be followed by mixed plastics from 1 July 2021, whole used tyres from 1 December 2021, single polymer plastics from 1 July 2022, and mixed and unsorted paper and cardboard from 1 July 2024.

Establishing and maintaining a robust system for implementing the waste export ban will come at a cost. The government therefore proposes to charge regulated businesses for the effective administration of this scheme. Appropriate cost recovery encourages the efficient use of government services. It also allows public scrutiny of the costs of government activities.

The Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (General) Bill 2020 is the first of three bills that provide an appropriate cost recovery mechanism for activities associated with regulating the export of certain waste materials.

Specifically, the bill will enable the recovery of costs associated with program management and administration, verification, and risk and compliance activities for the waste export ban.

This bill will sit alongside the Recycling and Waste Reduction Bill 2020 that allows the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to apply fees that recover the department's costs of those activities provided directly to relevant businesses—activities such as processing export licence applications.

The bill does not itself set the amount of the charges and will not impose any financial impacts. The charges and who is liable and exempt from paying the charges will be set in regulations.

The Australian government will undertake a comprehensive consultation process with affected businesses, in developing a cost recovery implementation statement, before imposing any fees and charges.

In accordance with the Australian Government Charging Framework, this bill ensures the Minister for the Environment is satisfied that the amount charged will not be more than the likely cost of delivering this activity. This will provide affected businesses with confidence that the government will not charge more than is necessary to recover the costs of operating this scheme.

Two companion bills are being introduced alongside this bill: the Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (Customs) Bill 2020, and the Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (Excise) Bill 2020. This package of bills will ensure that transparent and fair cost recovery mechanisms are in place for administering the waste export ban.

Debate adjourned.