Court SimonSIMON COURT (ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. The ACT Party's proud to support this bill the Waste Minimisation (Waste Disposal Levy) Amendment Bill.I just want to give a bit of background and context for why I personally share the kaupapa of this bill. For six years I worked on a solid - waste landfill. I qualified as an operator. Wheels tracks and rollers on a big beast like this [holds up picture]. It was crushing thousands of tonnes of waste a day. I worked at a landfill out of a Portacom for six years watching thousands and thousands of trucks a year bringing waste and dispose of it in landfills.Hon Scott Simpson: Then you've come here.SIMON COURT: Shortly after—Scott Simpson asked why would I come here. Why would I come here? Well I've got to say sometimes you can't engineer a way out of a problem that the Government has caused—and successive Governments are the reason why we're here today having to try to solve the problem of waste disposal that previous Governments failed to solve.I want to give you an example. In 2005 I went to a waste industry conference when a former Labour environment Minister announced there'll be zero waste to landfill by 2040. I thought That person has no idea how to achieve that." In 2005 there were 2½ million tonnes being disposed of in landfills in New Zealand; by 2018 there was around 3½ million tonnes a year. So under a whole succession of well-intentioned but unfortunately people who had no idea how to actually deliver on good policy and outcomes here we are today.The reason I'm proud to support this bill—and I think it's the right thing to do now—is because the original purpose of the original Waste Minimisation Act was to decrease waste disposal. I mean that's laudable right? To "protect the environment from harm;"—well of course every day we get up in New Zealand most people want to protect the environment from harm—"to provide environmental social economic and cultural benefits." Well how on earth do you put all those things together on one plan so you actually know what to do?This bill changes the purpose statement to actually promote and achieve waste minimisation. There will be tests there will be cost-benefit analysis for the investments made with funds recovered from levying waste at the landfill gate and then applied to waste infrastructure and waste minimisation. Achievement will be—Steve Abel: But also other things.SIMON COURT: —a test Mr Abel.Steve Abel: But it's going to pay for decontamination of—SIMON COURT: We'll get to that—we'll get to that Mr Abel. This is not lip service what we're doing here. These are not slogans; these are not good intentions. The changes to this bill state "achieve" waste minimisation.Now local government has the responsibility to minimise waste; manage waste. What we saw after Cyclone Gabrielle were some real challenges in separating out the silt the twisted piles of fencing the plastic debris the geotextile cloth. This bill will allow funds recovered from the waste levy levied at landfill gates to be used to fund waste infrastructure following cyclone disaster recovery.One of the other good things this levy will be able to fund in future is more contaminated site and landfill remediation. One of the other tasks that I've carried out as a civil engineer is designing and carrying out remediation on some of New Zealand's most hazardous sites and landfills. Some of those sites that are falling into the sea where the rock protection the sea walls aren't sufficient; and where it would be fair to say that as a legacy of the past which remains unfunded by local government and by central government there has not been one place—Steve Abel: Where are the climate adaptation funds?Scott Willis: That's right. This Budget has no climate adaptation.SIMON COURT: —that's right that's right. There has not been one place that local government and its partners in the private sector who actually have the machines that actually do the work can go to get funds to remediate landfills and deliver waste infrastructure to minimise waste to landfill.So there is a role for a waste levy. Now it would be fair to say that ACT is not a party that supports increasing charges and taxes and levies on the productive sector. But there is a role for a waste levy as long as it is applied to the right projects and the right programmes that achieve environmental outcomes and that meet a strict cost-benefit test. That is why the ACT Party supports this bill; commend it to the House. The Minister for the Environment Penny Simmonds has done a great job and we look forward to getting a little bit more out and aerate a few more issues as we get into committee stage. Looking forward to it."