While Janet was supportive of the State Government’s plan to increase landfill levy rates to help increase recycling and reduce waste, she was not supportive of the move to allocate 75% of revenue raised to the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) without clearly identifying how this money would be spent. 

Under the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Amendment Bill 2009 (Bill), only 25% of revenue from landfill levy will be allocated to the Waste Authority.

During the Parliamentary debates on the Bill, Janet raised concerns that placing a 25% cap on the amount the Waste Authority will receive may impact on its objectives and operations.  Should the amount of revenue raised from the levy decrease, the revenue allocated to the Waste Authority would also decrease.  Janet wanted assurances that the amount received by the Waste Authority would not be less than the $13 million forecasted for the 2009-10 financial year.  She wanted further assurances that should the Waste Authority require additional funding based on its business plans, it could access this funding from the landfill levy revenue.

Janet was further concerned that the Waste Authority would be neglected if it had to pit itself against DEC to obtain any additional funding.  Objections were raised as to how the 75% allocated to the DEC will be used and if it will be used to support recycling initiatives or merely to fill the department’s budget deficit.