Our community is still recovering from the impacts of recent flood events, and the last thing we should have to deal with is the compounding odour issue from waste sites.

From the get go, I’ve said these companies need to be held accountable and address the situation immediately.

More needs to be done to address not only the immediate issues, but the long-term impacts. 

The environmental impacts from odour linked to historically approved waste facilities in Ipswich needs to be fixed.

That’s why I’ve been asking the Environment Minister to look at how the regulator can take stronger action against offenders.

I’m pleased to advise the Minister has listened to our community, and committed to look at strengthening the regulator’s powers and penalties against offending companies.

I want the powers and penalties of the regulator to meet our community’s reasonable expectations and needs – and the Minister agrees.  

The regulator will continue the strong compliance action under the legislation while seeking advice as to where improvements may be needed to ensure it's sufficiently contemporary to deal with specific waste industry issues like odour, illegal dumping (including of tyres) and unlicensed operators.

Strong powers and penalties to hold offending companies to account are essential to deliver the improved environmental outcomes our community deserves.