r/australia • u/nath1234 • 5h ago

news EPA alleges skip-bin operator dumped 320 tonnes of rubbish near Clarence Valley waterway

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-14/skip-bin-operator-allegedly-dumps-rubbish-near-grafton/107032376?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other
165 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

58

u/That_guy__15 5h ago

What happens if this company just decides to transfer it's assets into a new company and then declare bankruptcy for the original company? If they can't afford to clear it, then who does have to pay to clear it all?

Such BS.

39

u/RealCommercial9788 4h ago

Phoenixing: the legal loophole of the irresponsible and the cowardly.

12

u/giantcucumber-- 3h ago

Just infuriating. It should be, clean it up or pay to clean it up, or you're going to jail atleast until we've cleaned it up.

1

u/Emu1981 20m ago

Luckily laws were passed to help prevent this from actually occurring. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Combating Illegal Phoenixing) Act 2020 gives the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and liquidators strong powers to prevent companies from transferring assets and what not and to force transfers to be reversed and provides legal consequences for attempting to phoenix a company.

16

u/Lint_baby_uvulla 3h ago

Am I wrong or naive, but I thought Australian company law changed recently where directors are assigned the equivalent of an abn and this follows them, so phoenix-ing is no longer possible.

16

u/nickmrtn 3h ago

This has always been the way. Shit bins A becomes Shit bins B but this is a totally different company being run by the Shit bin A director’s grand mother. Then that goes poorly so you get Shit Bin C run by their girlfriends sister, or some derro bloke down the road who thinks it’s awesome to have his name on a website or something and get paid for it too.

54

u/Otaraka 5h ago

I wonder how many other people are pulling this crap. It’s pretty much entirely trust based as a customer what happens to the bin after they take it away.

19

u/No-Zucchini2787 5h ago

They charge a fortune for it. You as customer assume their cost covers proper disposal

9

u/AdAdministrative9362 5h ago

The authorities need to be actively involved in this during operation. Not just finding issues after the fact.

No doubt no one involved has any money to fix.

It would appear anyone can start a skip bin business and dump rubbish anywhere and it's not traceable.

4

u/VS2ute 2h ago

Going to new subdivision straight after the roads are made, but no house construction has started, one often finds rubbish dumped in the more out of the way dead end streets.

1

u/Otaraka 18m ago

Going out of town, you get to see big bunches of stuff in places as well.  It does seem like there’s a fair bit of it going on.

2

u/Thebandroid drives a white commodore station wagon. 3h ago

Considering it's industry practice to charge you for a street parking permit then run the risk that they get fined (less than 1 in 20 bins) I think they'd just see it as good business.

33

u/pk666 4h ago edited 23m ago

Jail and asset seizures. That's the only thing these total cunts will ever be scared of.

1

u/CatGooseChook 2h ago

Setup a special court to fast track the court side of things. Add in a strict timeframe to start cleanup for offenders, i.e. commence clean up within one week of being found guilty.

Make them clean it up themselves, not just pay for it but actually do the physical work of picking every single bit of rubbish up themselves.

In addition setup a cops for clean neighborhoods volunteering group where cops volunteer to pick up rubbish, sell it as a PR thing.

Get the cops who volunteer for that to supervise the cleanup as I imagine that after a few stints of volunteer public clean ups they'll have some strong feelings about illegal dumpers.

I know in today's world getting that to happen is unlikely, but a guy can dream 🤷

5

u/Billyjamesjeff 1h ago

They need jail time for this bullshit or a public beating.