Page 1745 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 15 May 2019
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Changing behaviours should not be left to individual consumers; government should be encouraging this behaviour as much as possible. Whilst there is clear community support for moving away from disposable cups, a government-led scheme that encourages the use of re-usable ones is the next step in further reducing our waste. That is why I am supporting this motion to implement a re-usable coffee cup zone in the Gungahlin region.
With the support of community members and local business a government-led re-usable cup zone can help phase out the use of disposable coffee cups. We can lead the way in simple environmental policies that can have a big impact. This is an opportunity to again lead the way in positive and progressive initiatives that Canberra is known for.
Given how much Canberrans love their coffee, we cannot ignore the environmental impact of this obsession. Encouraging the use of re-usable coffee cups will help lessen Canberra’s environmental footprint and reduce our reliance on overseas recycling plants. This may be a small step in tackling the huge problem of what to do with plastic waste, but small changes to our lifestyle can have a big impact.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (4.43): The Greens will not be supporting Ms Lawder’s amendments. I listened carefully to the comments, and while I do not entirely disagree with them the fundamental basis of Ms Lawder’s amendments is that we should just sit back and let it happen. The bottom line is that we do not have the time to wait. As has been touched on in this debate, some of the environmental issues facing this planet mean we cannot just sit back and wait for some sort of evolutionary process to get us there; we have to be more deliberate. We have to intervene to ensure our planet is not contaminated by excessive amounts of plastic.
Just as we need to intervene to ensure that runaway climate change does not get a grip on this planet, we have to do everything we can to prevent those things happening. We cannot be passive about these things. We have a duty as the current generation to do the job with the knowledge we have to protect this planet for future generations. So I cannot accept the fundamental premise.
One could be more harsh and suggest that it was actually a speech about the right to pollute—you can choose to do the right thing or you can choose not to. I cannot accept that we can just sit back and give people carte blanche to pollute in any way they like. Just as we prevent noise pollution through the EPA and just as we prevent people dumping oil down drains, we have taken a whole series of steps as a community over the years to expect certain standards.
Government has a role in providing leadership on helping the community get to a place where we can be more sustainable and still lead good lives. That is what we need to achieve, and we cannot simply sit back and hope that it will all get better, which is the essence of Ms Lawder’s amendments.
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (4.45): To my Labor colleagues, thank you for your support. To Mr Rattenbury, I was happy to accept a friendly amendment. I echo the sentiments of
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