03-06-2025
'Disgusting' sight on roadside moves Aussie driver to tears: 'No excuse'
A 'shocked and disgusted' Aussie driver is demanding action be taken after she was 'moved to tears' on Sunday morning while travelling on a busy road. Kayla Gallop, who lives on the southwest coast of Western Australia, has noticed illegally dumped items steadily piling up on Stock Road — located near an expanding housing development in Lakelands — for the past six months.
The single mum frequents the area every two weeks, and has grown increasingly frustrated with the growing piles of discarded belongings, but what she witnessed last weekend left her brimming with anger.
After pulling over to take photos of lawn mowers strewn across the reserve, Gallop and her two young children watched in horror as a kangaroo with a joey hopped through broken glass and over a smashed TV.
'It just absolutely killed me,' she told Yahoo News. 'It was really eye-opening and I thought I'm not going to sit back anymore — this has been annoying me for months. What are we doing to the earth? What are we showing our children?
'It was very symbolic… it was a mother kangaroo and her baby, and I'm there with my babies, and I want more for them, and I want more for the environment.'
Within hours, Gallop had reported the illegal dumping — an 'all too familiar story' nationwide amid the race to solve the housing crisis — to the City of Mandurah and made a call out online for locals to 'do better'. She even created the hashtag 'Don't Take a Dump in Mandurah'. However, some people responded that the price of the tip may lure residents who are struggling with the cost of living into the 'grubby act'.
At Mandurah's Waste Management Centre, tossing a boot-load of items will cost $25 for those driving a sedan, and $37 for a SUV. Those hauling a trailer measuring under a cubic metre will have to pay $51, with the price jumping up from there depending on the size.
To help solve the issue, Gallop, who herself is a low-income earner, told Yahoo News the City of Mandurah should offer one day a month during which those struggling to make ends meet could take their rubbish to the tip for free.
Homeowners in the area are given four tip vouchers each year, but it is often a struggle for renters to get a property manager to pass them on, the mum said.
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Mayor Caroline Knight told Yahoo 'sadly, the illegal dumping of waste occurs in bushland across the city and in other local government areas on both public and private property, leading to environmental impacts, and costly clean-ups for the city and affected landowners'.
An investigation into the dumping along Stock Road is underway, she confirmed.
'There is no excuse for this type of behaviour, as through the annual waste collection program, the city provides plenty of opportunities for people to correctly dispose of their waste,' Knight said.
'Anyone caught illegally dumping can be prosecuted under the Litter Act 1979, which can attract penalties of up to $10,000.' The minimum fine is $200.
Earlier this year, Danny Gorog, CEO and founder of Snap Send Solve, told Yahoo the growing problem 'signals a bigger issue with waste disposal accessibility and awareness'.
'Whether it's dumped tyres in fields or household waste dumped in laneways, it shows we need better solutions to make proper disposal easier and more convenient,' he said. 'While most people do the right thing, it only takes a few to create a big mess for everyone else.'
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