Stuart Henry (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the suburb of Hazelmere, in my electorate of Hasluck, we have a local business that has been operating for some 50 years. It is Talloman’s, WA’s largest service rendering plant. Beef, sheep, pig and poultry producers are dependent on this facility, as are numerous abattoirs that deliver by-products from the slaughter of animals for human consumption. In addition, Talloman’s employ some 50 local people dependent on this business for their livelihood. These by-products include offal, fat, bone, feather and other materials. Talloman’s process these waste products, turning them into tallow, meat and bonemeal, feather meal, blood and bone et cetera, which in turn support the aquaculture, farming, nursery, horticultural and other industries, with around 50 per cent of these products being sold on the export market.

Like many former rural areas surrounding Perth, Hazelmere has succumbed to the pressure of a growing population, with much of the area now zoned industrial or urban to accommodate many new homes, thus putting significant pressure on businesses such as Talloman’s to modify their operations or consider their location. Talloman’s have done both. Almost three years ago the company held talks with state government representatives to seek alternative sites. Two years ago, in consultation with the Department of Environment and Conservation, Talloman’s invested $8 million upgrading the facility and to reduce odours.

Early in the new year their wastewater treatment plant failed. The site was closed for some weeks whilst repairs were carried out at a cost of half a million dollars to the company. The cost to the surrounding community was significantly increased too in rancid odours over this period. This is another wasted opportunity by the state Labor government to take a positive leadership role ensuring: a positive future for this business and its employees; a positive future for a number of abattoirs already under duress and adversely affected by the current disruption to Talloman’s operations; a positive future for beef, poultry, sheep and pig producers supplying these abattoirs; and a positive future for the many thousands of homeowners adversely affected by these odours.

There are positive solutions. The state government could allow Talloman’s to access the sewer connection without the proposed $1.5 million demanded for headworks or, alternatively, provide a viable site with the necessary services and assistance to Talloman’s to meet the cost of relocation. Offal going to landfill is not the answer as this has serious implications for local groundwater, residents and the environment, as demonstrated when over 2,000 tonnes of this waste was dumped each week, at the Inkpen Road tip in Wundowie. It took only three weeks before the complaints from local residents about the odour stopped this process.

Rather than solutions, what we see is the Labor Minister for Planning and Infrastructure sitting on her hands doing absolutely nothing about ensuring adequate and appropriately zoned land is available for such industries. She is well supported in this hand-sitting exercise by her colleagues the member for Midland and the member for Belmont, both senior ministers in the Labor government, both yet again demonstrating their disdain for their constituents, doing absolutely nothing about the concerns or needs of residents, employees of Talloman’s or, indeed, the needs of Talloman’s.

Who pays for this in the end? Let me tell you. Not the Labor government, as they are busy making money from stamp duty and other charges on new housing and urban development, employing even more public servants—around 18,000—but no policemen, no teachers and no nurses who can provide services for the community. I can tell you it will be the WA community who will suffer as a result of increasing meat prices because of the extra costs associated with dumping this waste material rather than seeing it processed and, in turn, creating local employment and opportunity.

This is just another example that demonstrates the total lack of vision of the state Labor government for the future of industry in Western Australia, the future of employment and employees in Western Australia, the future of new homeowners in Western Australia and their needs, and the concerns of residents in Hazelmere, Guilford and surrounding suburbs. This is a very serious concern and the state government needs to grab this issue by the horns. The people in Hazelmere and surrounding suburbs should no longer have to pay the price for the state government’s lack of action, lack of vision and their apathy.

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