Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise with a great sense of pride and a strong voice for my constituents of Higgins who care passionately about recycling and waste and who care deeply for their environment. I rise to support the motion by my good friend and colleague the member for North Sydney.

I'm proud the Morrison government has stepped up to ensure that, as a country, we take responsibility for our own waste. Our policies are delivering real outcomes not only for our natural environment but for our local economy, which is ultimately delivering the jobs of the future. The Recycling and Waste Reduction Act, along with the measures introduced by the Morrison government through the Recycling Modernisation Fund and National Waste Policy Action Plan are pragmatic and practical. They're what Australians have called for and are now what they have.

Australia generates about 67 million tonnes of waste each year, but only 37 million tonnes are recycled. That's about half of our waste that's recycled every year. Only 12 per cent of the 103 kilograms of plastic waste generated per person in Australia each year is recycled, and this is mostly overseas. That's 103 kilograms of plastic waste per person. That is almost double each person's body weight. On Clean Up Australia Day recently in Higgins I attempted to collect a body-weight bag worth of plastic along Gardiner's Creek. I didn't quite get there. Lucky, waste seems to have reduced in Gardiner's Creek due to the great work of my local constituents—each year it gets better in Gardiner's Creek—but I did attempt to do it. This waste problem isn't unique to Australia, but it is a problem the world needs to face together for the safety of the planet. A European Union report estimates the production of virgin plastic will account for 20 per cent of global oil consumption and 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. These are looming problems, and we need to take decisive action. It's our duty and it's our responsibility.

The Recycling and Waste Reduction Act works to end the 640,000 tonnes of rubbish, including plastic, paper, glass and tyres, that Australia ships overseas every year, mainly to China. As the Prime Minister has said, it's our waste, and it's our responsibility. To that end, we need to rapidly grow our waste and recycling industry to meet our growing needs. Banning the shipments of these types of wastes provides a moment in our history to pivot to build our own sovereign capability to deal with our own waste. Think of how we are saving on emissions by managing our waste at home, not shipping it off somewhere else for someone else to deal with.

As Australians, we should all welcome the $190 million commitment for the new Recycling Modernisation Fund announced in the recent budget, plus the $60 million for the National Waste Policy Action Plan that will improve our waste data collection and halve our food waste by 2030—that's right; you heard me. As a mum with four kids, I know how bad food waste can be. We've got a worm farm at home, but we need to do more. I was very happy to launch the Fight Food Waste CRC, which has some of the funds going to help scientifically develop technologies to do better with our food waste. It will also provide the basis for those who design, manufacture and distribute products to take greater responsibility for the impacts of these products on the environment.

These key changes not only reduce the amount of products that go to landfill but tackle the plastic pollution that goes into our waterways and oceans. We need to put an end to horrible developments like the great garbage patch floating in the Pacific off the US coast. Both the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act and the new Recycling Modernisation Fund will help give Australians confidence that, when they put their recycling bins out, their waste will be collected and recycled properly and responsibly, not simply dumped in landfills overseas.

I'm proud to have been a strong voice in calling for a recycling and waste inquiry as a member of the Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources. This inquiry, which has just been completed, aimed to provide a bipartisan understanding of how we can build the sector to meet our country's growing demands. I commend the report due to be released in the coming weeks to all those passionate about keeping our planet healthy and safe.

The Morrison government has led the nation in taking responsibility of our waste. It is working to help make sure that the states and territories collaborate and coordinate across these different legislative boundaries, and I welcome these developments. We need continued leadership and investment in recycling innovation and modernisation of our waste industry to be of benefit to not only our natural environment but our local economies through job creation for the 21st century.

See this speech in context