Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

I have two sets of questions for the minister. The first is in on the solar hot water rebate program. This program was axed in February, with $45 million lost. Although at the time the government claimed there was no reduction against budget expenditure, on budget night it was shown that the net loss as a consequence for the sector was $45 million, and the budget papers were reduced accordingly. The government has now reinstated that funding, although in a different format. My first question to the minister is very simple: where does that $45 million come from? Within which programs was it contained in the current budget? If it was not contained in any of the programs, will the minister confirm that the government's so-called surplus will be reduced by $45 million?

The second set of questions relates to landfill and the number of liable entities on the government's register of liable entities. Is the minister aware of plans by some landfill operators, and indeed potentially by some councils, to divert waste from consolidated high-quality landfills to smaller regional landfills so as to legitimately avoid the 25,000 tonne limit but in so doing potentially to lead to an increase in overall emissions and a decrease in environmental standards? Is the minister aware of any case where this is occurring, and can he rule out that landfill is being diverted from larger landfills to smaller landfills so as to avoid the liability but in so doing also losing the potential for methane strip and diverting waste to landfills which may not have the same lining and environmental standards?

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