Parliament of Victoria | Legislative Council | Tabling of Papers
25 August, 2026
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan Region):
I would like to commend the comments of Ms Purcell and Dr Mansfield, and I concur with their thoughts. Clearly we do have a landfill problem, and I think it is equally clear that the answer to that problem is not waste-to-energy incineration. The committee agreed that there are a range of highly toxic pollutants that are produced through this process, as well as extremely toxic fly and bottom ash.
It is also of great concern that it would appear that the government is basically seeking to contract out waste management, having failed abjectly at meeting their requirements to divert waste. There are some positive recommendations, including the monitoring of emissions on a continuous basis and that there be an investigation by the Auditor-General to undertake a review of the regulatory framework.
However, there was also a unity ticket between the government and the opposition. We saw, for example, a very narrow interpretation of the precautionary principles.
There was a question that the safety of waste to energy be established prior to permits being granted – that was rejected; that all waste-to-energy projects have an environmental impact statement – that was rejected; that the minimum buffers be established around these things – that was rejected; and in the context of that referral to the Auditor-General that, until such time as there is actually a finding from the Auditor-General, there be a moratorium – that was rejected.
We have a situation now where there is a need for action, and we are just not seeing it. And what a stark contrast it is, as Mr Welch suggested, where we have government ministers and MPs, state and federal, rejecting this technology while the government says, ‘It’s all good. No worries.’ There is no social licence for this project.
I also would like to extend my profound thanks to the secretariat, to Michael Baker and to Jess for all of their great work. It has been a pleasure to work with them on this inquiry.
