Objections against the coordinated project of an incinerator for Ipswich

Eligibility - Queensland residents
Principal Petitioner:
Cornelia Turni
47 Blackall Street
EAST IPSWICH QLD 4305
Total Signatures - 173
Sponsoring Member: The Clerk of the Parliament
Posting Date: 8/9/2020
Tabled Date: 8/9/2020
Responded By: Hon Dr Steven Miles MP on 8/12/2020
TO: The Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland

Queensland residents draw to the attention of the House that they do not want a waste incinerator in Queensland. The current proposed incinerator in Ipswich should be rejected due to the following reasons:

  • State of the art incinerators still emit dioxins, furans, PFAS, particulate matter, heavy metals and more.
  • There is a great concern about nanoparticles and the lack of regulations for these. Nanoparticles can cross brain-blood and placenta-blood barriers, and act as carriers for metals and organic compounds, risking the health of our future generations.
  • Pollutants from incinerators have been associated with respiratory disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, increased mortality, psychological wellbeing and cognitive capacity.
  • Government signed the National Clean Air Agreement to ensure our management of air quality continues to meet community expectations.
  • 4 tonnes of incinerator waste creates one tonne of very toxic ash that needs to go into landfill risking contamination of sub-soils and groundwater. Toxins in the ash are persistent and accumulate. Many are carcinogenic and neurotoxic.
  • More pollution due to trucks carting 500,000t/annum well beyond the 2050 zero waste target.
  • Incinerators hinder shift to circular economy and are not sustainable. 

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to call on the Minister for Health, the Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef and the Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning to exercise their power under the relevant Protection Act and in the public interest to recall this coordinated project, rejecting it and any further applications for incinerators within city limits of Ipswich.