Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Higgins for moving the motion. Each person in Australia generates 103 kilograms of plastic waste each year and, of that amount, only 12 per cent is recycled. To make that statistic more daunting, that waste is mostly recycled overseas. For too long we have buried this problem in landfill and shipped it offshore. Not anymore. The Morrison government is banning the export of plastic, paper, glass and tyres and investing close to $360 million in local waste and recycling projects.

The Recycling and Waste Reduction Bill 2020 will phase in the end of 645,000 tonnes of waste that Australia ships overseas each year. It complements the Morrison government's billion-dollar transformation of Australia's waste and recycling capacity by helping build onshore demand for recycled content. This will create more than 10,000 jobs and divert over 10 million tonnes of resources from landfill. Those living in my electorate of Reid are passionate about protecting and restoring our environment and practising better waste management. Both the Cooks River and the Parramatta River run through Reid, and they should be pristine homes for the native wildlife in our area and beautiful places of recreation for local residents. Instead, we have seen the impact that plastic waste is having on these waterways. One hundred and forty-four thousand tonnes of litter settles in the Parramatta River yearly.

Earlier this year, environment minister Sussan Ley joined me in Reid for Clean Up Australia Day. At this event I had a chance to speak with local community organisations, like Our Living River, an initiative run by the Parramatta River Catchment Group to help make Parramatta swimmable again by 2025. Only a few weeks ago, I met with the youngest Riverkeeper Ambassador, Hannah Chalmers, who is a PLC Sydney primary school student and descendant of Sir Edmund Barton. Hannah has won awards for her environmental app, the Green Elephant. I have spoken at length, in this place, about the work that groups and individuals, especially our young people, are doing in Reid to protect our environment and I will continue to support their grassroots work.

While it is important that this work occurs on a local level, the government is also taking important steps to put waste management on the national agenda. We are growing our recycling industry so that waste management is more sustainable in the future. Australians generate about 67 million tonnes of waste a year, of which 37 million tonnes is recycled. We know that for every 10,000 tonnes of waste recycled more than nine jobs are created, so the Morrison government sees that 37 million tonnes of waste as an opportunity—an opportunity to tackle a serious environmental issue as well as an opportunity to create jobs. I'm proud to be part of a government that is innovating Australia's waste recycling industry through an investment of $20 million into a series of initiatives that will grow our domestics plastics recycling industry. It is essential for our recovery from coronavirus that the economy continues to grow domestically while also looking at ways to ensure environmental sustainability.

Waste related activities add $6.9 billion to the economy annually. We have the potential to take this growth further. This is why the government's Australian Recycling Investment Plan is critical in strengthening Australia's domestic recycling industry. It is rolling out a package of initiatives totalling $167 million, and only this week the Morrison government introduced landmark legislation that sees Australia establish a national industry framework for recycling. The people of Reid should feel confident that sustainable waste management is firmly on the national agenda. I encourage everyone in Reid to recycle and to learn what items they can and cannot place in their bins, because when you recycle your waste you are now creating opportunities for Australians. You are boosting our economy and creating jobs. The Morrison government has made sure of that. We will keep working to reduce unnecessary packaging and boost recycling in Australia.

See this speech in context