Page 4576 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 31 October 2018
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The program has also been extended to include advice and support on energy, water and transport opportunities available to event holders. Waste is an important topic for events with many events looking to reduce their footprint. Event holders in the ACT are already trialling waste-free events, and some are taking the next step, such as the Living Green Festival and Vegan Markets, which encourages their traders to be completely plastic-free.
The government is also working with the ACT community, including residents and industry, through our behaviour change program H2OK, keeping our waterways healthy to ensure that the message of only rain down the stormwater drain is being noticed.
As part of our summer seasonal media campaign we are targeting the disposal of single-use plastics that pose a threat to our native flora and fauna as well as the water bodies themselves. The government has also recently released a draft revised water-sensitive urban design code and related guidelines that include a new code requirement that all new developments must prevent a minimum of 90 per cent of gross pollutants, including plastics, leaving sites. This brings the ACT into line with national best practice.
The ACT government is continually looking for ways to reduce the use of plastics in our environment, including banning single-use plastic shopping bags and participating in the container deposit scheme. We have learned many lessons from other states and territories and will continue to share information and knowledge on these initiatives. It is critical that we act now to reduce plastic waste, for both the health of the world’s oceans and waterways and to care for our environment in the ACT.
I am proud of the work the ACT government is doing to reduce plastic waste and I am committed to continuing to improve our work in this area for the sake of our community and future generations.
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, Minister for Tourism and Special Events and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment) (4.11): I am very pleased to speak in support of Ms Orr’s motion this afternoon and to advise the Assembly that we have committed to funding a new festival for Canberra in the winter of 2020 that will focus on promoting Canberra’s strengths in innovation, design, culture, coding and gaming. The festival was funded in this year’s budget and will showcase Canberra as a vibrant city and a leader in innovation by bringing together leading creative thinkers, technologists, futurists, artists and designers.
The new festival will provide a platform for diverse thoughts and engagements to imagine tomorrow’s future and generate new ideas to inspire delegates and attendees. Our early concept planning for the festival is underway exploring the future of technology, culture, democracy, society and humanity. Some ideas for the new festival include a future summit to gather industry and international leaders, high profile keynote events, fairs and expos.
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