Page 3324 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 21 August 2018
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I now turn to waste. We have in the past been a leader in waste recycling. Remember our zero waste by 2010? But we are falling behind other jurisdictions. We need to rule out unsustainable processes like incineration and start focusing on capturing and recycling organic waste. Sending organic waste to landfill creates a lot of greenhouse gas emissions, uses up landfill space and wastes a potentially very value resource.
The ACT Greens strongly support improved measures to collect and process organic waste to prevent it going to landfill. One relatively simple option is to allow the green bins that are being rolled out to households also to collect food scraps. This has been done successfully by many other Australian councils. The ACT even successfully trialled this over 15 years ago but unfortunately it has not progressed.
We should also look immediately at ways of collecting and recycling organic materials from the commercial sector, such as cafes, restaurants and supermarkets. Other cities, such as San Francisco, do that. Collected organics can be processed in sustainable ways such as through large-scale composting or anaerobic digestion. These processes can create energy such as biogas as well as soil enrichment products. It means that it is a win-win for the environment.
Another issue of concern to the Greens is our work on catchments and waterways. As members would be aware, we have been working for a long time to ensure our catchments in the ACT are better looked after. As a result of this work and the parliamentary agreement item from the last Assembly, we now have close to a $100 million investment in our waterways to reduce nutrients running into our lakes and thereby improve water quality and environmental conditions for native wildlife, including fish.
I know that Minister Gentleman, as the ACT environment minister, and Senator Seselja have been launching a great many of these projects in recent years. It is great to see the progress. There is one about 500 metres away from my place, which is very inspiring to observe. But the key to supporting these engineering works to create wetlands, slow water flow and enhance habitat, is people.
Our ACT catchment groups—the Ginninderra, the Molonglo and the southern catchment groups—work very hard to look after our three catchments. These groups do on-the-ground work such as habitat restoration, monitoring and cleaning. They work closely with regional councils on regional catchment work. They advocate on issues to ensure that government does the right things when it is necessary. I know that the catchment groups were very concerned about their funding. (Second speaking period taken.)
Unfortunately, it is a sad situation. The federal government has not committed to ongoing funding for these important groups. I am pleased that the ACT government has stepped in to cover this shortfall this year. This is another example of the ACT government having to cover costs that the federal government should be covering. I understand that through this process, Frogwatch missed out on funding. It had previously been funded by the federal government. I hope that it is able to work closely with the catchment groups so that it is supported next year
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