Page 2462 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 31 July 2019
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away. In addition, as a Canberran, I am interested in this matter, as are most Canberrans.
Most Canberrans care a lot about waste and recycling. We spend a lot of our time remembering our keep cups and re-usable bags. We try to read the little triangles on the bottom of our food containers to work out whether they are recyclable or not and put them in the right place. We choose cardboard straws
It is both an emotional issue and an environmental issue for Canberrans when we hear of stockpiling of recyclable waste and even dumping of recycled material due to the lack of a market to use it. Recycling in Australia has become more difficult since the Chinese policy of accepting waste was tightened and this is having an impact on our waste industry in the ACT. But it has had an invigorating impact upon consumers and the market in pushing for improved recycling outcomes.
I feel Ms Orr has taken a number of steps to make this motion agreeable and acceptable to all parties in the Assembly. Her passion for this area is apparent in a number of motions that she has brought before the Assembly.
I feel this motion is reasonable in requesting that the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment conduct an investigation and report to the Assembly regarding the growth of the recycling and waste reduction industries in Canberra. Of course, we know that the commissioner is knee-deep, if not deeper, into the four-yearly State of the environment report, which is due to be published later this year. We need to ensure that the commissioner has adequate time to develop the report that was called for in this motion.
The terms in Ms Orr’s motion are very broad, but I appreciate that she has focused on the need for the creation of secure jobs within the recycling and waste industry in the ACT and the opportunities for businesses to be involved in the solution. We will be supporting this motion today.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (10.29): I am very happy that Ms Orr has brought this motion forward today. It is a topic for which I have great passion, and one that is well worth discussing here in the Assembly. I thank her for bringing it forward. In her speech and in the motion she has made some very interesting points.
From an ACT Greens perspective, we agree that recycling of waste is an important issue. Over many years we have worked to advance waste policy in the ACT, including through our successive parliamentary agreements. There is currently a lot of policy work happening in the ACT, which is very good. Ostensibly, this is largely through the waste feasibility study, which was a parliamentary agreement item.
Our view on waste and recycling is pretty clear, and we have talked about it for decades. Firstly, we need to be consuming less of the resources of the planet. That is the first and most important step. That is why we have been supportive of initiatives such as the plastic ban bag and have pushed for the phase-out of single-use plastics. The first step is always to reduce.
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