Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes the urgent need to establish an effective, safe means of eradicating asbestos from our community which does not result in landfill contamination, which in itself becomes an environmental hazard; and

(b) calls on the Government to co-ordinate a national asbestos management and disposal plan.

On Wednesday, 7 March 2018, the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency, the Australian government's peak advisory body on asbestos issues, released a report analysing 11 projects involving asbestos removal from buildings and seven projects involving the removal of asbestos from contaminated land. The report showcased a series of findings based on the learnings from these projects. The Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency was established in 2013 to facilitate a national approach to managing asbestos in Australia. Preventing the risk of asbestos exposure is the agency's core purpose. When releasing this report earlier this month, the agency's CEO, Mr Peter Tighe, confirmed that the only way to reduce asbestos-related diseases in Australia is by preventing exposure to this deadly substance, and that means completely removing it from our community. However, in showcasing these projects, which the agency classes as best-practice examples of effective and safe approaches to asbestos removal, the agency failed to acknowledge that none of these projects has actually removed asbestos from our community. Instead, by landfilling the asbestos removed from these sites, these projects have simply shifted the problem from one location to another and from our generation to another.

Landfilling of asbestos, as with many other wastes, is considered best practice. The Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency itself believes that landfilling is commonly accepted as the best way to dispose of asbestos, to minimise risks to the environment and public health. However, our country's acceptance of landfilling continually fails to acknowledge the true economic and environmental impact this has. Let me assure you: landfills are a threat to our health and to our environment. Landfills release toxins into our soil and groundwater and become environmental hazards for years. They produce leachate, which is the liquid formed when waste breaks down in the landfill and water filters through the waste. This liquid is highly toxic and can pollute the land, groundwater and waterways. Landfills produce greenhouse gases, in particular, that wreak havoc on our environment. They release fibres into the atmosphere from surface contamination caused by burrowing animals and erosion and have a serious effect on wildlife. Landfills devalue land and result in the loss of land that could be used for other purposes like housing and industry. Landfills require ongoing management and monitoring for years, and their use simply means we are passing our issues from one generation to another.

In 2014-15, Australians produced 64 million tonnes of waste. That's 2.7 tonnes per person. Most of that was from construction demolition and commercial, industrial waste. Our population is expected to grow to 40 million by 2050. This will equate to over 100 million tonnes of waste each year. Australia has a waste problem, yet nothing is being done to address this. Local government is arguing with state government that, apparently, it's not a local government responsibility but a state responsibility. State governments are fighting amongst themselves. Just this week the Queensland Labor government sought to reintroduce a waste tax ultimately aimed at stopping New South Wales rubbish from crossing its border and making Queensland the eastern seaboard's waste dumping ground. Every day in Queensland we're taking up to 90 B-double trucks full of New South Wales waste, deadly and toxic asbestos and rubbish. Well, I've got a message for the New South Wales government, which continues to transfer its waste into my backyard of Ipswich: you can keep your own shit in your own backyard.