Thursday, 13 August 2026

 Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (17:26): (1785) I rise with my adjournment for the Minister for Environment. The action I seek is for the minister to join me and the candidate for Sunbury Simone Cottam at 230 Bulla-Diggers Rest Road, Diggers Rest. The reason I bring up this address is Suji An, who owns this property and leased the property out on 25 June 2026, with a contract signed to rent the property out. It is a large property. It has got a four-bedroom home. On 28 June 2026, just three days later, the first illegal dumping activity at the property occurred and was identified. The landowner stated there were large quantities of waste that began to be brought onto the property at the time. On 30 June a neighbouring property also notified them about it from 220 Diggers Rest Road and reported and made a complaint to Hume City Council. From 1 and 2 July further reports about this happening went to the EPA, including a report from the neighbouring property. On 3 July 2026 the landowner attended Sunbury police station seeking assistance after becoming concerned about the activities on this property. On 6 July 2026 the landowner personally attended Hume City Council and EPA Victoria. The dates go on about the different visits she has had to the police, going to councils, speaking to EPA and trying to get people out to assist her. She identified this issue just two or three days after the lease was signed.

The problem now for Suji An is that every time she wants to speak to someone in council or with the EPA, effectively it is via lawyers, because now she has been given clean-up orders on this property because as the owner of the property she has fallen responsible for it. I have gone out to the property and had a look, and we are talking acres of tonnes of waste – asbestos, dangerous goods, building waste, building rubble. Trucks are breaking in through the entrance now to go in there. Suji just cannot get the support she needs. This is just a family who are trying to get on with life. The reality is they have just been sent a clean-up order. It will probably cost them $1 million to clean up this property. We are talking 4000 tonnes of waste that has been dumped on this property. What they should be doing is ensuring that the person who leased the property can be fined, charged and followed up, and they should be held accountable. Every time they get contacted they say, ‘We’ll get to it. We’ll clean it soon,’ and then another letter comes through for Suji An. I think it is just unfair on someone who is a landlord of this property to have to continue to put up with this. I say to the minister that I think it is desperate. We need to get you out there. You need to see how this is impacting not just them but all of the other communities around, where if you get wind in, it is not protected. It is not like a normal tip, but let me assure you, it has been treated as a tip. The minister must come out, visit this and find a way and find a solution.