Friday, 14 August 2026

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:19): (1424) I recently met with a landowner who owns a property in Diggers Rest. She is a 70-year-old grandmother. She leased the property out to a tenant, and a few days after that she was alerted to the fact that there was illegal dumping happening on her property. This is for the Minister for Environment – apologies. She went to the EPA, who did nothing. She went to the police, who did nothing. She went to the council, who did nothing. She begged the EPA to try and stop this dumping happening. It was clearly run by organised crime. It went on for a month, at which point there was about 2000 tonnes of rubbish on the property. The tenant was issued a notice to clear the rubbish, and the deadline for that was today. Can the minister please update me on what is happening with this case?

 Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for Environment, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (12:20): I thank Mr Limbrick for his question, and obviously I express my anger and equal frustration for this individual and what has happened to her. My advice is similar to the advice in the way you framed the question. There have been a number of steps taken. The EPA has ordered the former tenant to immediately cease accepting industrial waste. I understand that dumping has ceased, and they have been asked to remove all waste deposited by the end of today. The EPA will not hesitate to take escalated enforcement action should the occupier fail to comply.

Members interjecting.

Jaclyn SYMES: Thank you, Mr Limbrick. I am addressing my answer to you. It is an operational matter, so I will have to be careful along the way in how I am able to brief you. However, I give a commitment to giving you an update when I can.

In relation to the ability of the EPA to take action, I would refer to some previous cases. Illegal dumping is one of the most frustrating things. It is escalating. We want to stop it. This is on an industrial scale. What is the ability of the EPA to take action? I refer to a previous case that was in Diamond Creek.

Nick McGowan interjected.

Jaclyn SYMES: I now have ministerial responsibility, Mr McGowan, and I am answering Mr Limbrick’s question. In answering Mr Limbrick’s question, I was very keen to make sure –

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: Order! Mr Limbrick is not interjecting I believe. He wants to hear the answer, so pay respect to him and the minister in this important interaction.

Jaclyn SYMES: As I said, with the enforcement action I wanted to see what has been going on. In 2025–26 almost $600,000 court-ordered penalties have been issued and more than $118,000 in fines. There have been civil proceedings, restorative project orders that have been required to be paid and about $100,000 in other penalties. A similar case effect in terms of these really significant cases was the one in Diamond Creek, where the accused pleaded guilty and was convicted. They were fined $60,000 and ordered to pay $12,000 in legal costs and must clean up the site, even if it is sold, with clean-up costs expected to be in excess of $1 million. I wanted to draw your attention to a case that is more advanced than the one that you have drawn to my attention and that I am at liberty to speak about because the court proceedings have been completed.

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:23): I thank the minister for that answer. I would say, though, that I feel like the EPA has failed to protect the property rights of this landholder. She informed the EPA as soon as she was aware of it, and they did nothing. The reason given to her was that they did not want to get involved because of the safety of their staff, because this was an organised crime issue. She went down there herself to try and stop them. A 70-year-old grandmother standing up to organised crime: that is what it has come to in this state. She is still desperate. She copied me in on communications to the minister and other people as recently as last Sunday. She has actually been issued an order by the Hume City Council under section 127 to clean it up herself. She is absolutely desperate. What is the government going to do here to try and rectify this situation?

 Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for Environment, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (12:24): I thank Mr Limbrick for his supplementary question. As I indicated in the answer to your substantive question, it is an operational matter. You have brought it to my attention today. I will make further inquiries. My advice is that the property was leased in June 2026, and after reports of illegal dumping on the site in early July the EPA confirmed the presence of illegally dumped industrial waste on 16 July. The VCAT application initiated by the landlord for eviction orders and to take repossession of the land was successfully supported and issued on 24 July. The orders were served by police on 29 July, which brings us to the next step of the requirement to clean up the property by today. In relation to the next steps, I am more than happy to ensure that I update you as the information becomes available, because I have not received advice in relation to the status of the property today, which is the required action. Next steps from today will be taken if it is not satisfactory.