Proposal to charge households on rubbish disposal is slammed by Australians

A ‘nappy tax’ has been proposed in South Australia that would force households that produce more waste to pay higher rates for municipal waste collection.

Under the system, taxpayers would pay slightly lower rates overall, but would be charged per kilogram of waste collected.

The radical change was put forward by insiders from the Environment Department and Green Industries SA as part of a government investigation into the kerbside collection system.

However, SA Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas rejected the proposal this week, saying waste collection should not be a ‘pay-as-you-throw’ service.

“We don’t think there should be any change in the council’s obligations to provide that service on an ongoing basis,” he said.

“We can absolutely rule that out.”

The prime minister’s position is at odds with the boss of Green Industries SA, who told a parliamentary committee in September that this was one of several options “on the table” being considered.

The state’s Liberal opposition wants to introduce laws that will prevent such an overhaul and protect the weekly garbage collection as it is.

“Don’t just rule it out, support the Liberal Party’s policies,” said opposition leader David Speirs.

Residents have rejected the proposal, saying it would only lead to people dumping waste where they were not supposed to in order to avoid the levy.

“More illegal dumping will be the answer,” one said.

“During a cost-of-living crisis, governments normally try to take the pressure off the people, not add more financial hardship to the community collapse,” said another.

‘It just means the whole street will try to throw their rubbish in my bin. Will the municipality provide (sell) individual padlocks?’ added a third.

Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas has ruled out a change to waste collection services, but the decision would be up to councils unless laws are introduced to protect them.