Page 1746 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 15 May 2019
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Mr Rattenbury about Ms Lawder’s comments this afternoon. I found them a little bit confusing for the simple reason that I think this is a very sensible proposal to take us forward to address what is a very real need. We do not have time to waste before we act.
I will address some of the things Ms Lawder raised in her motion. She posed the question of whether I had spoken to anyone before bringing this forward. The short answer is yes, I have actually spoken to quite a few people, including businesses. One of those was Frankies at Forde which would be one of those businesses I believe Ms Lawder refers to when she says it is already happening so just step to the side and let it continue.
Frankies was really supportive of the idea of a government-supported zone for the simple reason that they still do on the odd occasion have people who come in who cannot be accommodated by either having their coffee there or taking one of the re-usable cups. They saw this as a really good way to overcome that so that everyone is able to use re-usable cups and no-one has to find an alternative when they cannot be provided with one. Frankies were also very keen to share their knowledge with other cafes and share their experience and to raise awareness to see this thing grow so that it is not just one cafe but quite a few that are working together. They see it as important to take a lead and reduce their waste where they can.
Ms Lawder asked about a small cafe that does not have a place to store the cups. Atlas down in Gungahlin would fit that category; they are not a large space, but when I spoke to Tristan, the owner there, he was really enthusiastic. I saw him once and put the idea to him. I came back another time and he said, “Look, I’ve been thinking about space and I’ve figured it out,” and he proceeded to tell me how he was going to manage it. This was not with my prompting; this was all out of his own enthusiasm.
As to the washing and so forth, when I spoke to Ange at Sunday in Canberra, I asked her, “You know, mate, are you okay with the idea that you’d be washing all these cups, because that is what we’re asking you to do?” And she said, “It’s fantastic. It’s a great idea.” It is not a problem for them. In fact, you know, she thought it would be fine to do because they do not need to worry about storing and looking after all the disposable cups that they have to order. She did not have a problem with the washing; she said it would just go through and it would be fine.
I appreciate that Ms Lawder has raised points, but they are all questions I have already put to businesses. Businesses have already said, “No, no, we’re still happy to opt in to the scheme and we’re still happy to give it a go.” Given that the support is there from businesses, I appreciate Ms Lawder’s concerns, but I think it is okay. I think it is fair to say it is fine.
It is an opt-in scheme. Given the media coverage that came up yesterday on this, I think more people than not will want to opt into it. I grabbed a coffee this morning on the way in—in a re-usable cup I should note—and the business owner at that café, who I had not spoken to in advance of this, said to me, “Oh, I saw you in the newspaper yesterday. I really like the idea. How can I get my business involved?” So I think there is a lot of genuine support out there and that we will see this embraced
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