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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 13 Hansard (26 November) . . Page.. 4759 ..

MRS DUNNE (continuing):

Retailers are offering a strong reusable plastic bag for 25c, or a reusable calico bag for $2. The Liberals would like the government to work with business to see whether there is a willing ACT store that would trial a ban on plastic bags; and, if so, what the impact would be.

Other initiatives include those like the scheme in Byron Bay where a 10c fee for plastic bags was introduced at a supermarket, along with alternatives of biodegradable bags, free paper bags, or cotton and string bags. The scheme has resulted in an 83 per cent reduction in bag use from 1,200 to 200 a day. Ikea has introduced a 10c charge on their plastic bags; Aldi supermarket chain customers are charged 15c for their "boutique"reusable plastic bags as well as offering as alternatives a cooler bag, free reused boxes and a 69c cotton bag. It would be encouraging to see the ACT government adopt some of these approaches to assist local businesses promote the options consumers have in carrying their goods.

Across the globe, South Africa is currently looking at a plastic bag levy; Denmark and Italy have hidden taxes, which I think are less desirable; and a number of European Union countries have packaging material levies and packaging recovery targets that apply to industry. Ireland made the news headlines earlier this year when the Irish government decided to introduce a 25c plastic bag levy. The government said it did not want to make money or even want shoppers to pay the levy in the long term. What it wanted was to try to force consumers to avoid using plastic bags by bringing their own bags or boxes to shops.

The scheme has worked so far. In the first five months of the scheme, Ireland experienced a 90 per cent reduction in plastic bag use. We do not know whether that 90 per cent trend will continue. But I think it is incumbent upon us to participate in similar trials and try to sustain long-term habit changes. One of the risks with what has happened in Ireland is that gradually residents will become less concerned with paying a fee and revert to using plastic bags. This is why we need to have a multifaceted approach.

This government have said that they have signed the federal government accord or protocol, which really means that they have left everything to the Australian Retailers Association. The Australian Retailers Association has been left with the responsibility of negotiating through retail outlets a significant reduction in plastic bag use. I think the problem is that it is being left to one sector of the community, rather than the government coordinating an overall approach which will result in a better involved community solution to the problem.

I think no-one would deny that this is a problem for the whole community, and what this motion does today is call for a community solution. It calls for the government to trial a number of ventures, to increase education and awareness, to work with the community, and to work with the business community in particular. It calls on the government to look at trialling a plastic bag levy in the ACT to see whether over an extended period this can effect a consumer change. The motion also calls for a trial on the use of biodegradable and degradable plastic bags, using a similar approach to the ReBaG trial in 1999.

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