Page 646 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 30 March 2021
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support the businesses that are actually making changes to comply with the rules. The infringement framework will also be made clear through education and awareness activities so that businesses are not caught off-guard.
While other jurisdictions are also moving towards phasing out single-use plastics, the ACT is taking a different approach to others across Australia. This bill provides flexibility around declaring public events, both government and privately run, as single-use plastic free. Consultation with ACT residents revealed that plastic waste at events was a problem in need of a solution. It speaks volumes to the community that we are taking the lead on this important issue. That is why this bill allows for the minister to declare an event single-use plastic free no closer than three months prior to the event, to ensure that organisers can make the necessary arrangements in time. The government will only make such declarations in consultation with those involved in all cases, particularly given the impact of COVID-19 on the events sector.
The ACT government has already shown initiative in this space in recent years to implement better ways of doing things for major government-run events. This provision in the bill takes this internal commitment even further and declares entire events single-use plastic free, preventing certain government and non-government events alike from contributing devastating quantities of plastic into our landfills. The plastic waste generated as a result of large-scale public events can instantly pollute the immediate environment and waterways. The worst part is that most of these items are entirely avoidable if appropriate alternatives and behaviours are adopted.
This bill follows on from years of public discussion, interjurisdictional and community consultations and policy development in the single-use plastic space. It is clear to all involved that this is a necessary, timely and proven step towards achieving reduction in plastic waste. This bill has built-in flexibility to adapt further in the future, incorporating additional items and undertaking additional and targeted discussions with affected groups to ensure that we can phase out unnecessary and wasteful single-use plastics without impacting negatively on vulnerable persons, business or the environment.
This bill takes us further towards a new and better standard of going about our day-to-day lives, where government leadership and businesses spark a shift in attitudes throughout the community, where more individuals than ever stop to think beyond single-use items and better appreciate the long-term consequences of adding plastic into the waste stream. With this bill Canberra is on track for a brighter, cleaner and more sustainable future. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
MS DAVIDSON (Murrumbidgee—Assistant Minister for Seniors, Veterans, Families and Community Services, Minister for Disability, Minister for Justice Health and Minister for Mental Health) (5.06): The Plastic Reduction Bill is good legislation which addresses the urgent needs of a waste industry which does not have good processes in place for all waste streams, including single-use plastics. This has been a problem for our community, and the global community, for decades.
Jo Clay, MLA for Ginninderra, has spoken about the support that the Greens provide to this ACT government for the introduction of the bill. We support measures to
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