🛑The 3-Bin Budget Gap:

The Direction: State Policy vs. Local Residents

The State Government’s Waste Strategy pressured all councils to move to a 3-bin system by 2025. While the Council framed this as a “local choice,” the timing suggests it was heavily influenced by State Government directives.

By taking the lead on this rollout, the Council effectively absorbed the public’s frustration, which some believe served to distance State political leaders from the controversy right before the March 2025 election.

A Question of Timing

The timeline of this rollout raises serious questions about transparency:

April 2025: The new bins finally arrive—safely after the election was over.

June 2023: Council approves the 3-bin system.

May 2024: Council votes for a 4.5% rate hike to fund waste services.

March 2025: State Election takes place.

The Financial Reality: Short-Term Grants, Long-Term Debt

The Council accepted a small $25 grant per bin from the State. However, the actual cost to buy and deliver each bin is estimated at $75 to $95.

Who pays the difference? Because the grant was insufficient, the City had to fund the rest. Official minutes from June 2025 reveal that the Council is “recouping” these rollout costs from you over a three-year period. This means ratepayers will still be paying for these “new” bins through their waste charges in 2026 and 2027.

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The Efficiency Question

The new “Call and Collect” verge system appears to be a step backward in logistics:

• The Previous Way: One truck did a single, efficient sweep of the whole street.
• The Current Way: Trucks must now drive to specific, individual piles across the city.

This “on-demand” style requires more fuel and more staff hours—costs that are ultimately passed on to you through your rates and the City’s internal debt.

The Decision Makers

On June 28, 2023, the following Councillors voted to move forward with this system, despite a survey that only reached 896 residents:

Michael James Brown

Mayor Carol Adams

Peter Feasey (Current Mayor)

Barry Winmar

David Acker

Matthew Rowse

Sherilyn Wood

What Were the Alternatives?

We believe the Council should have explored other paths before committing our rates to this debt, such as:

1. Stronger Advocacy: Demanding the State Government fully fund their own waste strategies.
2. Incentive Programs: Offering composting rebates to families, which is often cheaper than a mass bin rollout.
3. Better Consultation: A genuine, city-wide vote to see if residents actually wanted to trade their current service for a more expensive one.

Kwinana deserves a Council that prioritizes resident hip-pockets over State Government agendas.

📉 The Hidden Debt

Official minutes from June 2025 admit that the Council is “recouping” (charging you back) the rollout costs over a three-year period. This means even though the bins are on your verge now, you will still be paying for them in 2026 and 2027.

Common-Sense Alternatives :

• Challenging the State: Demanding the State Government pay 100% of the cost for their own “forced order.”
• letting the community decide how to handle landfill fees.
• Preserving a Proven System: We could have maintained our reliable waste service and allowed the community to decide how to manage landfill costs. Instead of committing Kwinana families to a three-year debt and a 4.5% rate increase, the Council should have assessed waste fees on a yearly basis—keeping our local budget flexible and our rates under control.

Kwinana deserves a Council that fights for our families, instead of acting as a “rubber stamp” for the State Premier’s forced orders and political agendas.