Page 3390 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 22 August 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
when trying to adjust to a ban. It is an ongoing discussion that needs to be had between governments, retailers and the community, and I am very much heartened by the fact that we as Canberrans are continuing this conversation with a review of the plastic bag ban. I very much look forward to how this review might further improve environmental outcomes for the community.
I would like to acknowledge that there are areas where reducing or eliminating our single-use plastic becomes tricky, and we must always understand the difficulties that groups in our communities might face. I am a strong supporter of the straws suck campaign. To use a plastic straw once and throw it away creates an enormous amount of waste. Where it can be prevented, it should be. However, we need to appreciate that there are people in our community living with disabilities that require access to plastic drinking straws. In these instances we need to ensure that they are made readily available. However, I would also encourage everyone to consider straws made from less damaging plastics to mitigate this.
One initiative I encourage everyone to try is Plastic Free July. The initiative challenges everyone to choose to refuse and to take measures to try out how they can reduce their single-use plastic usage. I would like to thank my Labor colleagues who have taken on the challenge of Plastic Free July with me. Ms Cheyne adopted using a reusable straw, and I believe she continues to use it. The Attorney-General was already well adept at minimising his plastic waste but committed to continuing to reduce his use of soft plastics. Mr Steel has made a valiant effort in adopting reusable dog waste bags but admitted to being unable to make the changes he wanted to enact through July but has committed to trying to keep going in the future.
The Chief Minister purchased a reusable coffee cup. I spoke with the Chief Minister just recently about this and he admitted to me that while he was grumpy for the first few days it really was easy to make the behavioural change, and he uses this cup every day now, even if it means he has to walk into the office every morning because he forgot to take his cup home with him.
Well done to everyone who took the Plastic Free July challenge, and I hope that we continue to take steps to reducing waste. Of course you do not need to wait until July 2019. You can, as Mr Steel has told me he will be doing, take the challenge every day. Through our actions we can all make a meaningful difference in reducing our waste, keeping our city clean and keeping more material out of landfill.
This motion calls on the government to investigate further opportunities to reduce single-use plastic throughout the ACT. I encourage all Canberrans to explore this for themselves. Start collecting your soft plastics and taking them to your local supermarket to recycle them. Reduce your consumption of bottled drinks and enjoy the added benefit to your hip pocket from the container deposit scheme.
I encourage everyone in this Assembly to support this motion not just in the way they vote but also through their actions. I commend this motion to the Assembly.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Minister for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety, Minister for Corrections and
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video