Page 5806 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 7 December 2010
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Like the Leader of the Opposition, I will touch on the issue of bin liners. Bin liners are a very modern invention. Before that, people wrapped up rubbish in newspaper or cleaned out the bins. This is not as hard to do as some people think. If you have a compost system in your household so that there is no organic waste going into your bins, you will find that the bins do not get dirty. If you are putting in bottles, the Canberra Times, tin cans and the ever-increasing amount of excess packaging—generally plastic packaging—this does not mean that you create mess that means that you have got to clean out your bins.
I agree that it is inevitable that when lightweight plastic bags are no longer available, some people will buy bin liners. However, research has found that the purchase of bin liners does not increase significantly compared with the reduction of plastic shopping bags. Also, bin liners are much less likely to end up loose in the environment than supermarket plastic bags are. People using plastic bin liners also have the option of using biodegradable bags, such as those made from corn starch.
I will talk a bit about some aspects of the bill itself. It is clear that the success of this bill is going to rest largely on its implementation. As I have said before, the aim of this bill is to change behaviour; the aim of the bill is not to fine people. The government needs to work closely with retailers and the public to make this work. Based on the briefings that I have had from the government and the retailers who I have spoken to, I think that the indication is that so far this is progressing satisfactorily. What the retailers said is in fact part of what Mr Seselja reported. What they want is a consistent uniform regulatory regime. This bill is consistent with what has been done in South Australia, so I feel it is the right approach from that point of view.
It is important to ensure that the public understands and comes on board with the new regime. The government’s communication strategy needs to be sound. Given that that is the case, I am sure that the Canberra public will come on board and embrace the change. That is what happened in South Australia: after the ban was introduced, people’s approval of it went up considerably. There are also appropriate arrangements in the bill for a phase-in of the ban, including requirements for the retailers to display notification of the impending changes.
I would like to emphasise something which I have raised with the government a few times: the Greens believe that the government will need to provide some assistance to people in Canberra who are at a socioeconomic disadvantage to assist them with the one-off costs of changing over to reusable bags. As we know, it is often these people who have the biggest difficulties adjusting to these kinds of changes. We suggest that the government provide community and welfare organisations with reusable bags so that they will be able to distribute them to people who use their services. This proved to be an effective strategy in South Australia.
I would like to briefly address the comments made by the scrutiny of bills committee in relation to this bill. Firstly, I am satisfied that, given that something has to be done, it is appropriate to criminalise, in the way the bill does, the activity of providing plastic bags. As I have discussed, plastic bags have serious negative impacts and there is considerable public interest in ensuring their reduction.
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