2018-03-06 S&O Agenda - Attachment 1 to Item 2 - Public Interest Test Report

Noosa Council - Public Interest Test Report: Proposed Local Law No. 7 (Waste Management) 2017
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  small family-operated                                                                                                       inadequate.
  enterprises.’                   (iii)   the introduction of the proposed local law will cause the Noosa Council
                                  (the Council) to violate the competitive neutrality principle; and                      No proposed actions in response to the
                                                                                                                          above.
                                  (iv)  Council's claims in its consultation papers that in the context of waste
                                  management, it is unlikely that the Proposed Local Law will:                            Refer response to issues 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
                                        (A)        impact on the business environment in terms of size, distribution      in table 2 (below).
                                        and participation in the market; or
                                        (B)        place restrictions on business ownership, structural form,
                                        business behaviour or product/service quality.
                                        These statements are totally incorrect and misrepresent to the
                                        community the real impacts that arise in the making of this law

                                  (v)       The Queensland Competition Authority found in June 2012 Sunshine
                                  Coast Regional Council had a competitive advantage over its competitors in
                                  relation to waste and recycling services as it relates to its local law and that this
                                  advantage should be removed. On de amalgamation Noosa Council has
                                  continued to act in an anti- competitive, anti-business way against this
                                  independent authority advice using the basis of this original law

                          2.      The proposed local law

                          (a)       The proposed local law is intended to replace Chapter 5A : Waste Management by
                          Local Governments of the Environmental Protection Regulations 2008 (the Chapter 5A
                          provisions) and section 7 in Part 2A of the Waste Reduction and Recycling Regulation
                          2011 (section 7). The Chapter 5A and section 7 provisions were scheduled to expire on 1
                          July 2018. Government has recently advised both the LGAQ and our Association it now
                          intends to remove the expiry date provisions in the regulation, thus removing the necessity
                          for local governments to make these anti-competitive laws.

                          (b)       The regulation expiring evolved from the Health Act 1937. The Environmental
                          Legislat ion Amendment Bill (no 2) 1995, repealed the Refuse Management Regulation
                          1983, and the Sanitary Conveniences and Nightsoil Disposal Regulation 1976. The
                          regulation was remade to become sub ordinate legislation under the Environmental
                          Protection Act 1994.

                          Numerous modifications have regularly been made to the original regulatory wording, but
                          none has ever quantified the relevance of it in a 2017 more modern world.

                          The proposed local law allows the Council to designate areas within which it may conduct