Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee
28 July 2026
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Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee Australian Parliament
18:40 - 20:43
Speaker 18
The first instance, Stella. Thanks, Taz. Thanks, Pete. Okay. I declare open this public hearing of the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation committee's inquiry into the extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging, no time to waste, bill twenty twenty six.
I begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet and pay my respects to elders past and present. I extend that respect to any, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today. These are public proceedings being audio streamed live via the parliament's website, and a handset transcript is being made. For the benefit of attendees, I am the chair of the committee, senator Varun Ghosh from Western Australia, and I'm joined today by senator Wish Wilson from Tasmania appearing... We're both appearing remotely, as is our witness, this morning.
I remind all witnesses that in giving evidence to the committee, are protected by parliamentary privilege. It is unlawful for anyone to threaten or disadvantage a witness on the account of evidence given to a committee, and such action may be treated by the senate as a contempt. It is also a contempt to give false or misleading evidence. The committee generally prefers evidence to be given in public, but under the senate's resolutions, witnesses have the right to request to be heard in private session. The senate has resolved that an officer of the Department of Commonwealth or of a state should not be asked to give
Opinions on matters of policy to be given a reasonable opportunity, to refer questions asked of that officer to superior officers or to a minister. This resolution does not preclude questions asking for explanations of policies or factual questions about how or when policies were adopted. If a witness objects to answering a question, they should state the ground upon which the objection is made, and the committee will determine whether it will insist on an answer having regard to the ground which is claimed. If the committee determines to insist on an answer, a witness may request that the answer be given in camera. Not that I feel it will be necessary today, but I do remind senators as is my practice of the obligations under the behavior code of Australian parliamentarians to treat witnesses with dignity, courtesy, fairness, and respect.
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