Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 2020, raw sewage should not be pumped into one of Sydney's major waterways. But that is exactly what is occurring at Botany Bay during heavy rain, and it happened as recently as a month ago. Sydney Water has been regularly discharging hundreds of millions of litres of raw sewage into Sydney Airport Wetlands, which then flows into Botany Bay via the Mill Stream. The discharges usually occur during heavy rain, and can see hundreds of millions of litres of raw sewage sent into the wetlands. Sydney Water is seeking a renewal of this authorisation because any discharges in wet weather are likely to exceed the acceptable limits for water pollution and result in objectionable odours. Quite simply, it stinks!

The impact is prohibited under the airport's environment protection regulations—not to mention the health risks and the inconvenience it may cause for local residents and people who swim, fish and walk along Foreshore Beach. Sydney Water is seeking the approval to 31 March 2021. On behalf of our community, I strongly object to Sydney Water being granted approval to discharge sewage into the Mill Stream and Botany Bay. I've written to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport to urge his department to reject Sydney Water's application and quickly develop a workable alternative to sewage spewing into Botany Bay.

Raw sewage should not be pumped into one of Sydney's most significant waterways and surrounding wetlands, particularly when Sydney's largest and most efficient sewage treatment plant is literally two kilometres away in Malabar. The Botany Wetlands are listed as significant on the Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia. This should be an important community asset, yet the wetlands are being used as a sewage wasteland. The Mill Stream is literally a stone's throw from residents who live in Bay Street Botany and Botany Public School. Sewage can be trapped under sand along the stream and emit obnoxious odours that penetrate into the nearby Botany area for several days.

These important wetlands are also home to many bird and marine species and significant flora. The Mill Stream plays an important role in the annual migration of the longfin eel from, believe it or not, Centennial Park in Sydney to New Caledonia to breed. These eels travel 2,000 kilometres to return to their place of birth, including swimming through the Mill Stream.

The Mill Stream flows directly into Botany Bay just near Foreshore Beach, where people swim, fish and walk their dogs. I don't believe they appreciate sanitary products, syringes, toilet paper and human waste floating by when they are out for a swim or a walk along the beach. Foreshore Beach continues to be graded as 'very poor' by the state government's annual Beachwatch, and Bayside Council has identified Mill Stream and Botany Wetlands as important community assets with significant potential to meet increasing community recreational needs. But continued sewage overflows will significantly risk the utility of these assets.

The focus should be on improving this vital part of Sydney, not making a bad problem even worse. In 2017, researchers from UNSW found that the Mill Pond had extremely high levels of PFOS compound—a toxin used heavily in firefighting foams, and part of the broader group of PFAS chemicals. PFOS levels in the water were six times the safe drinking average. The researchers say this reflects a legacy of poor regulation of industrial chemicals and ageing stormwater systems in the area.

Although Sydney Water is generally acting within their authority in discharging the waste, they have been prosecuted and convicted for offences against the New South Wales environment regulations for three offences relating to sewage overflow from the outlet at Mill Stream during maintenance work in May and June 2017. The first release involved 334 million litres of sewage and the second release involved 173 million litres. Sydney Water pleaded guilty to the charges and admitted that they had stuffed up. In the Land and Environment Court decision in 2019, the court noted that the sewage discharging from the Mill Stream into Botany Bay created a potential risk to health to anyone exposed to the water at the nearby Foreshore Beach. There's also a risk to human health for the people who eat fish caught in Botany Bay after one of these sewage discharge events.

It's simply not acceptable for Sydney Water to risk human health and the surrounding environment by continuing to regularly discharge sewage into the Mill Stream and Botany Bay. It doesn't pass the sniff test! The New South Wales government and Sydney Water management need to wake up to this fact and upgrade the sewerage infrastructure to ensure sewage flows to Malabar treatment plant and not into public waterways, risking the health of people who use the bay and the beach for recreation. I call on the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development—the Deputy Prime Minister—to reject Sydney Water's application to keep polluting Sydney airport and Botany Bay wetlands.