Enhanced waste management for Yarrabah community

Published Wednesday, 20 September, 2023 at 01:45 PM

Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and Minister for Multicultural Affairs
The Honourable Leanne Linard

The Palaszczuk Government is providing Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council (YASC) with more than $3 million to improve waste management within the community
The funds will be used to remove accumulated waste from an old landfill site and establish enhanced waste transfer station facilities on the same site.

The Palaszczuk Government is supporting Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council (YASC) to remove potentially harmful and accumulated waste from the community and upgrade its waste transfer station.

Due to Yarrabah’s remote location, transporting local waste to larger facilities can be challenging, especially during the wet season.

The Palaszczuk Government will invest more than $3 million through the Recycling and Jobs Fund to combat this issue by helping to reduce transport costs and delays in waste removal. This will prevent the build-up of waste at the transfer station and provide for better separation of recyclable material.

The funding is for a two-stage project, with Stage 1 being to cover the costs of the machinery needed to clear Yarrabah’s current landfill site as well as the disposal costs to discard the waste responsibly.

Once the waste has been removed, YASC can then enhance its transfer station facilities under Stage 2.

The Department of Environment and Science and YASC are also investigating potential opportunities to prevent future waste issues, including stockpiling of white goods and the mixing of recyclables, to keep Yarrabah clean.

Quotes attributable to Environment Minister, Leanne Linard:

“The Palaszczuk Government is proud to partner with Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council to enhance and improve waste services for its community.

“We are committed to protecting Queensland’s unique natural environment and an important part of that is supporting new and enhanced resource recovery initiatives.”

Quotes attributable to the Member for Mulgrave, Curtis Pitt:

“Yarrabah is one of the many First Nations communities that provides a gateway to our precious Great Barrier Reef and is surrounded by environmentally significant ecosystems, including mangroves and rainforest.

“This funding will support responsibility for Country through faster waste removal and improved recycling and will help preserve the area for many generations to come.”

Quotes attributable to Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council Mayor, Ross Andrews:

“On behalf of the community, Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council thanks the State Government for the injection of significant funds, totalling $3 million to aide with our efforts of waste disposal from this community.

“This will allow us to obtain critical infrastructure and resources to manage this issue in a more efficient manner.

“In particular we thank the Department of Environment and Science for working with us to achieve this outcome. This supports our efforts to provide a cleaner and safer environment for our people and the protection of the country.”

Further information:

This funding supports implementation of Respecting Country: A sustainable waste strategy for First Nation communities, which was released in April 2022.

This strategy was co-designed with and for First Nation councils and aims to enable and empower First Nations councils to deliver appropriate, tailored waste management solutions that create economic and employment opportunities within their communities.

ENDS

Media contact: Scott Chandler - (07) 3719 7339