Page 1836 - Week 05 - Thursday, 16 May 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
I wish to thank all the people who work tirelessly to support some of our most vulnerable children and young people, both in Bimberi and in the community. I also wish to again thank all those who participated in the work of the taskforce, generously providing their support and advice so that each recommendation reflects community experience and expectations.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Unfantastic plastic—government response
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Advanced Technology and Space Industries) (2.58): Pursuant to standing order 211, I move:
That the Assembly take note of the following paper:
Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment Act, pursuant to subsection 21(2), Unfantastic Plastic—Review of the ACT Plastic Shopping Bag Ban—Government response.
MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee—Minister for City Services, Minister for Community Services and Facilities, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Roads) (2.59): I am pleased to report back to the Assembly on the government’s response to the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment’s independent review of the Plastic Shopping Bags Ban Act 2010. I also welcome the opportunity to provide an update on the government’s broader efforts to reduce problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic in the ACT.
Our society can no longer throw away responsibility for the plastics littering our environment. Single-use plastics are ubiquitous, filling our waterways, our city parks, our landscapes, and going into our landfill. If we are to take the responsible approach to managing our environment, we must also reduce problematic and unnecessary single-use plastics.
In late 2011 the ACT became the third jurisdiction in Australia, after South Australia and the Northern Territory, to implement a ban on single-use lightweight plastic shopping bags. Today, with the exception of New South Wales, all jurisdictions have committed to some kind of plastic bag ban. The federal Labor Party has committed to make the ban national.
On 20 September 2018 the Office of the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment published an independent review of the Plastic Shopping Bags Ban Act 2010. The report, Unfantastic Plastic, focused on the efficacy of the act itself and made four recommendations. The first was to introduce a mandatory plastic bag disclosure scheme. The second was to introduce a minimum plastic bag pricing scheme. The third was to improve governance on plastic bag regulation. The fourth was to research synergies for compostable plastic as part of a proposed household organic collection scheme.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video