Page 4562 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 31 October 2018

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studies already exist about the impacts of a proposal, an EIS exemption process is appropriate to consider.

An EIS exemption can be granted conditionally, and any conditions attached to the EIS exemption are to be included in any subsequent development approvals. Once the environmental impact assessment is complete, a DA will be required to approve urban development and infrastructure works. This will include additional public notification periods.

Single-use plastics

MS ORR (Yerrabi) (3.27): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes that:

(a) this year the Association of Independent Festivals, representing more than 60 independent British festivals, pledged to go plastic free by 2021;

(b) in Australia there are a growing number of events that are implementing strategies to reduce and avoid plastic waste;

(d) since the 1950s the cumulative amount of solid plastic waste that has not been burned or recycled is 4.9 billion tonnes;

(e) much of the world’s plastic has ended up in the oceans which becomes virtually irretrievable, especially once it fragments into micro plastics;

(f) avoidance is the surest way to ensure harm minimisation;

(g) the need for finding alternatives to single-use, non-biodegradable plastic is imperative if we are to reduce their usage through avoidance;

(h) plastic serves a useful purpose and in certain cases alternatives might be difficult to find or unviable;

(i) it is incumbent upon each of us to take our own actions to reduce uses of single-use plastics where we can;

(j) governments have a pivotal role to play in assisting the community with behavioural change; and

(k) State, Territory and Commonwealth jurisdictions are currently developing a national waste policy to reduce total waste generated in Australia;

(2) also notes the ACT Government is a national leader in environmental sustainability policy including through:

(a) banning single-use plastic shopping bags;

(b) rolling out green bins to Canberra with bins already delivered in Weston Creek, Kambah, Tuggeranong and Belconnen;

(d) setting a target for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045; and

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