Tuesday, 4 February 2025

Waste and recycling management

David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (18:26): (1361) My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC in the other place and relates to the establishment of a toxic chemical storage taskforce for the western suburbs. I originally raised this matter as a constituency question back in August in the wake of the Derrimut fire, which was one of the biggest chemical explosions in recent years. Unfortunately, it bounced between two ministers without being addressed by either. But the issue of toxic chemical storage in the west and the danger it exposes residents to is still very much a live one for my constituents. The sort of weather we are experiencing at the moment – hot weather and high winds – tends to make western suburbs residents particularly nervous. We know that communities in Melbourne’s west are exposed to much higher levels of air pollution than other parts of Melbourne. This was highlighted in the 2021 Environment and Planning Committee Inquiry into the Health Impacts of Air Pollution in Victoria report – a report, I note with great disappointment, that the government is yet to respond to.

Along with that, they also must contend with the risk of living close to toxic chemical stockpiles housed in warehouses and factories, largely unregulated and often very close to homes. Often residents are only made aware that they are living within metres of one of these dangerous stockpiles when it explodes and envelops the neighbourhood in a plume of toxic smoke. People have no idea what is being stored at these sites. Critically, what actions, if any, are being taken to minimise this unacceptable risk to their health and to the environment? The laws designed to protect them from the effects of pollution are not being enforced by the EPA with anywhere near the sort of required rigour. The EPA instead is consigned to assessing the damage after the catastrophe occurs rather than working proactively to reduce the risks of it happening in the first place. Having spoken with a number of our courageous firefighters in the west, who put their lives on the line when chemical fires erupt, this is also a huge issue for them. Many of these men and women live in the west as well as work there, so it is double jeopardy for them. We need proactive measures to protect residents, first responders and the environment from the large-scale fires and pollution incidents that happen fairly regularly across the west and other parts of Melbourne. We need a comprehensive audit of chemical waste stockpiles in Victoria. My request is for the minister for WorkSafe to establish an independent task force to look into how and where chemicals are stored and the state’s response to dangerous chemical fires.