Published Monday, 21 May, 2007 at 03:19 PM
JOINT STATEMENT
Premier and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Peter Beattie
Minister for Environment and Multiculturalism
The Honourable Lindy Nelson-Carr
NEW LAWS TO CRACK DOWN ON ROADSIDE LITTERING
New litter enforcement methods are part of legislation to be introduced to Queensland Parliament this week.
Premier Peter Beattie said the Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007 was aimed at reducing the amount of litter found by the roadside and on city streets with litterbugs facing fines of up to $300.
“The changes will make enforcing littering offences in Queensland significantly easier and safer, particularly when litter is thrown from a vehicle,” Mr Beattie said.
“The new laws will send a strong message that littering will not be tolerated.
“According to the latest litter count figures issued by Keep Australia Beautiful in February 2007, 55 percent of the volume of litter in Queensland is found along our roadsides. This is higher than the national average of 49 percent.
“In New South Wales, where an authorised person has the ability to issue an infringement notice to the registered owner of a vehicle, the volume of litter found along highways and roadsides is only 40 percent. In Victoria, where public reporting is also used to report littering offences from vehicles, this figure drops to 32 percent.
“Under the current litter legislation in Queensland an authorised person has to stop the vehicle, obtain the details of the person who littered and issue the infringement notice directly to that person. This can be dangerous and confrontational for the authorised person and as a consequence, very few litter infringement notices have been issued since 2000.
“The new laws will allow an authorised person – Environmental Protection Agency officers, local government officers and Queensland Police officers - to send an infringement notice to the registered operator of a vehicle from which a littering offence has been observed.
“This is similar to camera-detected speeding offences, where the owner of the vehicle receives the infringement notice in the mail.”
Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr said the Government would undertake further work to examine the possibility of members of the general public being able to report litter sightings.
“The fact that these laws work so well in other states shows that the community wants to see less rubbish on the road and understands the impact cigarette butts and other rubbish has on the environment,” Ms Nelson-Carr said.
“For too long, litterbugs in Queensland have assumed that there were no consequences to their actions but with the introduction of this new legislation the chances of being fined have increased considerably.”
The Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007 also introduces two new littering offences and penalties: the first is depositing litter from a vehicle and the second is dangerous littering.
Depositing litter from a vehicle has a maximum penalty of 30 penalty units or an infringement notice penalty of $225. Dangerous littering has a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units or an infringement notice penalty of $300.
Dangerous littering may include throwing a lit cigarette onto dry grass during extreme fire danger conditions, smashing a bottle and leaving the broken glass on the footpath, leaving a hypodermic needle in a garden bed or near a children’s playground or throwing an item from a car at another road user or a pedestrian.
“Littering has enormous environmental and social impacts and it costs money to clean up.
“The majority of people do the right thing and don’t litter, but these laws will send a strong message to the hip pocket of those who think littering is OK and that they can get away with it," Ms Nelson-Carr said.
21 May, 2007
Further inquiries: Premier’s Office: 3224 4500
Minister’s Office: 3336 8004
Premier Peter Beattie said the Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007 was aimed at reducing the amount of litter found by the roadside and on city streets with litterbugs facing fines of up to $300.
“The changes will make enforcing littering offences in Queensland significantly easier and safer, particularly when litter is thrown from a vehicle,” Mr Beattie said.
“The new laws will send a strong message that littering will not be tolerated.
“According to the latest litter count figures issued by Keep Australia Beautiful in February 2007, 55 percent of the volume of litter in Queensland is found along our roadsides. This is higher than the national average of 49 percent.
“In New South Wales, where an authorised person has the ability to issue an infringement notice to the registered owner of a vehicle, the volume of litter found along highways and roadsides is only 40 percent. In Victoria, where public reporting is also used to report littering offences from vehicles, this figure drops to 32 percent.
“Under the current litter legislation in Queensland an authorised person has to stop the vehicle, obtain the details of the person who littered and issue the infringement notice directly to that person. This can be dangerous and confrontational for the authorised person and as a consequence, very few litter infringement notices have been issued since 2000.
“The new laws will allow an authorised person – Environmental Protection Agency officers, local government officers and Queensland Police officers - to send an infringement notice to the registered operator of a vehicle from which a littering offence has been observed.
“This is similar to camera-detected speeding offences, where the owner of the vehicle receives the infringement notice in the mail.”
Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr said the Government would undertake further work to examine the possibility of members of the general public being able to report litter sightings.
“The fact that these laws work so well in other states shows that the community wants to see less rubbish on the road and understands the impact cigarette butts and other rubbish has on the environment,” Ms Nelson-Carr said.
“For too long, litterbugs in Queensland have assumed that there were no consequences to their actions but with the introduction of this new legislation the chances of being fined have increased considerably.”
The Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007 also introduces two new littering offences and penalties: the first is depositing litter from a vehicle and the second is dangerous littering.
Depositing litter from a vehicle has a maximum penalty of 30 penalty units or an infringement notice penalty of $225. Dangerous littering has a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units or an infringement notice penalty of $300.
Dangerous littering may include throwing a lit cigarette onto dry grass during extreme fire danger conditions, smashing a bottle and leaving the broken glass on the footpath, leaving a hypodermic needle in a garden bed or near a children’s playground or throwing an item from a car at another road user or a pedestrian.
“Littering has enormous environmental and social impacts and it costs money to clean up.
“The majority of people do the right thing and don’t litter, but these laws will send a strong message to the hip pocket of those who think littering is OK and that they can get away with it," Ms Nelson-Carr said.
21 May, 2007
Further inquiries: Premier’s Office: 3224 4500
Minister’s Office: 3336 8004