Mount Isa, like most council areas in Queensland, is staring down the barrel of a brand new tax in the form of Labor’s waste levy.
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This policy is drastically underdeveloped however, it is due to come into place from March next year and from this time the community will have to once again fork out for something that is of no tangible benefit to them whatsoever.
The $70 per tonne tax will apply to moderately populated councils and other commercial enterprises that dispose of waste.
The state government has argued that, even despite the cost to the councils, there would be no impact passed onto ratepayers thanks to a 105 per cent rebate that is being offered.
The trick there is that this rebate will be lessened over a period of time – by how much and when, we don’t know.
This means the levy will eventually operate exactly as a tax, and one I am sure will add nicely to the state government’s coffers.
This places the likes of Mount Isa City Council, with its modest population base, extreme isolation and subsequent high transport costs, at risk of having to pass the cost of the waste levy on to ratepayers down the track – this is exactly what we don’t want.
Arguments that the burden of the tax will be lessened through the uptake of recycling is flawed – the tax will exist no matter the volume of waste and for some communities, such as ours, recycling is just not a current possibility.
For Mount Isa, bulk recycling without subsidies is just not going to be practicable nor affordable in the foreseeable future.
On another note, I would like to assure all constituents in the Mount Isa area that, despite the chaos that erupted thanks to the two major parties in recent weeks, there will be no planned changes to my Mount Isa electorate office.
The KAP has been slashed of the ‘extra’ staff it was granted by the Palaszczuk Government in the last term.
I say ‘extra’ lightly because these are staff the KAP would have been fully entitled to had the LNP not rushed through legislation to rob minor parties of their staffing and resources entitlements in 2012.
These cuts have had deep repercussions for me and my KAP colleagues at the parliamentary level, and have also affected my second office in Charters Towers, but will not mean any changes here in the Isa. It is business as usual at Camooweal Street.