Page 2581 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 1 August 2018
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I would like to thank everyone who was able to come along on the day. We managed to clear several bags of rubbish from Dawson Park and its surrounding land. We picked up plenty of polystyrene and plastic that had blown into the park from the construction sites throughout the suburbs, as well as glass bottles and cans discarded by passers-by. Much of the litter we gathered was non-biodegradable, with the risk that it might have been part of the local environment for centuries to come. The group was able to create a cleaner and safer park for the people of Moncrieff. It was amazing to see the scale of the impact that the collective could make on the local environment. We were also encouraged to receive the support of the Moncrieff community.
While Trashmob has shown its commitment to fixing Canberra’s litter problem, its founder, Maddie, has also spoken out about the importance of the prevention of littering. Along with clean-ups, the collective strives to educate people on the effects of single-use plastic on the environment. I took part in Plastic Free July last month. I learned just how difficult it is to buy things, especially food, without it being wrapped in single-use plastic.
Trashmob urges their community to advocate for the reduction of single-use plastic in the manufacturing process. Their hope is that this will ultimately stop the litter from reaching our streets and waterways and polluting our local environment. With their sights set on large-scale change, it is a hopeful goal that groups like Trashmob will not have to do the dirty work of cleaning up our suburbs forever. In the meantime, Maddie and Trashmob Canberra continue to make a significant difference to the cleanliness and environmental health of our city. I would like to thank Trashmob for their substantial contribution to our community. I look forward to joining them once again in my electorate of Yerrabi.
Trashmob
Women’s reproductive rights
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (6.08): I take a brief moment to echo Ms Orr’s comments about Trashmob. Trashmob has done a few clean-ups in Belconnen. I first became aware of them when they stumbled across a few of my corflutes almost two years after they had been ripped out of the ground and stashed somewhere in Jamison. They are now safely back in my possession. I joined them a few weeks ago, down off Macdermott Place, near Lake Ginninderra. I must say they are doing a fantastic job.
Something equally serious but more with regret is that today I bring to the Assembly’s attention an anniversary. Tomorrow marks one year since the opposition revealed it has no policy platform on women’s reproductive rights. Mr Coe said at the time that “the Canberra Liberals treat women’s reproductive rights as a conscience issue”. Through you, Madam Speaker, I think I need to remind Mr Coe that women’s rights are human rights. It is appalling, and it remains appalling, that a so-called alternative government does not have a policy view on issues that affect 50 per cent of the population. For a party that was all about “for all Canberrans”, this is very hypocritical.
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