The one recommendation Queensland won’t adopt after 10¢ container refund inquiry

Queensland’s LNP government has rejected a call from its own members to consider increasing the state’s 10¢ container refund as part of draft laws sparked by a damning inquiry.

Environment Minister Andrew Powell introduced the bill to state parliament on Thursday, at the same time as he released the government response to an inquiry into the scheme.

The inquiry’s October report outlined bullying claims and failures “baked into” the scheme. Former federal Liberal MP Trevor Evans was made interim chief executive of the not-for-profit that runs the program in January.

Powell said the government supported – in full or in principle – the government-controlled parliamentary committee’s 21 recommendations, except one.

“That recommendation would open the door to increasing the refund amount,” Powell said of the call to have the state’s productivity commission look into a refund increase.

“Increasing the refund risks increasing costs for Queenslanders, and this government will not support higher costs at the checkout. We ruled it out before the committee reported. We rule it out again now.”

An exemption will be given to small beverage producers “from paying a contribution for a certain amount of containers manufactured”.

A number of governance changes will also be made, including an expansion of ministerial approval of board members and requiring a majority to be independent of major beverage companies.

The bill will also set up a framework for ministerial approval of a plan to use surplus funds from the scheme, which has generated more than $2.5 billion in revenue but returned less than 40 per cent to Queenslanders through refunds and two per cent to charities.

“This government is delivering reform. This legislation draws a clear line under those failures. It ensures the container refund scheme is fit for purpose well into the future,” Powell said.

The scheme’s scope would be expanded to include other items such as drinking yoghurt or two- and three-litre plastic bottles, “at an appropriate time”, the government’s response said.

In a statement, Evans said it costs on average 20¢ to recycle a single container including the 10¢ refund and another 10¢ in processing and logistics costs.

“That refunds only account for 40 per cent of revenue doesn’t reflect the lack of return to Queenslanders – it reflects the cost of delivering a high-performing, statewide recycling system,” he said.

In their statement of reservations in last year’s committee report, Labor opposition members Joe Kelly and Barbara O’Shea argued several recommendations, observations and committee comments in the report did not match evidence heard.

They also called on the government to release a 2024 Clayton Utz review into the scheme and act on its recommendations.

The opposition members complained the inquiry was “political”, and a first draft of the lengthy report was only provided at 4pm on the Friday before it was due to be tabled, containing errors and allegations accepted without evidence.

In 2023, this masthead revealed COEX was required to recover and recycle at least 85 per cent of the bottles and cans sold in Queensland by 2021-22, but it only reached 62.9 per cent – meaning people handing in containers missed out on pocketing $65 million.

Despite that being grounds for the government to tear up the contract, it did not.

The inquiry’s report showed Queensland’s container recycling rate had increased from 18 per cent before the scheme to 67.1 per cent this year.

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