Page 4716 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 31 October 2017
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Canberra Liberals all too often: they will stand up and profess broad, sweeping support for environmental initiatives, but when the rubber hits the road and you have to actually implement something, we consistently see them backing away or in fact positively getting in the way of trying to move these initiatives forward. It is similar to the way they have taken the position of supporting 100 per cent renewable electricity, which I very much welcome, but when the actual measures are put in place, we see them consistently seeking to undermine those efforts in this place. It is disappointing, particularly for the reasons I have outlined today, in that this is clearly a successful environmental initiative, one that has a significant impact on not only the re-use of resources but also the cleaning up of litter.
I am very much looking forward to seeing this roll out. I know there is real community enthusiasm for this, and we will see a range of community organisations using this as a fundraising opportunity. As a young boy, in my primary school days, I remember going to football matches at Batemans Bay oval, and I was the one who went round and got the cans and made some pocket money out of that. We will see a range of enterprising community organisations, and perhaps even individuals, doing their part when people cannot be bothered to return their container. We will see people creating new community opportunities out of this. I think there are some really positive elements to this program, apart from the obvious ones, that will make this a very successful scheme.
Clearly, the suggestion from our colleagues across the chamber is that we should not adopt this scheme. If we do not take it on board when New South Wales is going to, it would really be a missed opportunity.
Certainly, after more than a decade of advocacy, the ACT Greens are proud that the government has now moved to establish a container deposit scheme in the territory. It is great that in the ACT our kerbside recycling is well utilised. The evidence from other jurisdictions suggests that container deposit schemes actually complement kerbside recycling programs rather than interfere with them. That is an important point. It is certainly something that we were mindful of, but the evidence does indicate that it is complementary, and that is a good thing.
We have a lot of work to do to improve our resource recovery rates. I believe that this bill is an important first step on that journey. I thank the minister for her work in bringing the proposal for a container deposit scheme to the Assembly. The Greens are very pleased to support this bill today.
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (4.42): I rise to speak in support of the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Amendment Bill 2017 introduced into the Assembly by Minister Fitzharris on 21 September of this year. This bill introduces a new container deposit scheme, to commence in early 2018, which will encourage Canberrans to recycle. This bill amends the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Act 2016 and will establish the ACT container deposit scheme. When the scheme commences, Canberrans will have the opportunity to receive a cash reimbursement of 10c for returning eligible beverage containers to designated drop-off points across the ACT.
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