Page 3261 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 18 August 2009
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I would also like to mention the issue of plastic bags. The reduction in plastic bag use is a priority for the government. In 2009-10 the government allocated $85,000 to undertake consultation with the community about the best approach in the ACT to reduce the use of plastic bags, consistent with our commitments in the parliamentary agreement between the government and the ACT Greens to provide for a trial levy on the use of plastic bags.
That consultation process started yesterday, with detailed telephone calls being made to a random sample of the ACT community to seek their views on how to tackle the issue of plastic bags in the community and whether there is support for a levy, whether there is support for a ban or whether there is support for voluntary measures. It will also provide us with greater information on the public’s view about plastic bags, how significant a priority they rate it and how they believe the issue needs to be tackled as well as how people use plastic bags. That telephone survey will be followed up by a range of other consultation options, including shopping centre surveys and other stakeholder consultation and focus group discussions in the coming month.
Community consultation will explore the extent to which people see plastic bags as a problem or concern and the reason for this concern. As I have said, it will explore support for measures to reduce the use of plastic bags, including voluntary and mandatory levies and/or a ban.
I think you can see, Madam Assistant Speaker, that the government is undertaking a broad range of measures to tackle the issue of waste in our community. We are recognising that through the development of a new waste strategy to take us past 2010 and by recommitting government and non-government players to the goal of achieving no waste.
We recognise that no waste is part of achieving zero net emissions for our city. We recognise that the greatest gains are in the non-residential sector, in the commercial sector, in the office sector and in the hospitality sector, and that we need new programs and initiatives that tackle those. We have started that work, through OfficeSmart, through BusinessSmart and through our commitment to national schemes such as the national e-waste recovery arrangements.
We are committed to tackling this issue. We have a strong foundation to build on and strong levels of public support. Now we have funding and policy from the government to move forward and tackle the issue of waste and help build a more sustainable community. I thank Ms Bresnan for raising the issue today for discussion and hope that that information helps members in their understanding of the government’s approach.
MR COE (Ginninderra) (4.53): The current state of the ACT waste strategy is a result of a failure of leadership at the highest levels of the ACT government. The ACT government spin doctors are happy to say one thing to the public and media whilst they know that they are not committed to achieving results.
On Wednesday, 21 January, the Chief Minister said that a government slogan that cannot be achieved is still an appropriate one to use. He said:
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