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

I would like to thank the member for Goldstein for moving this motion today, and I'm proud to make a contribution to it. Just like him, I'm a waste warrior and I care deeply about our environment as well.

Many Australians won't know that the average Australian generates nearly three tonnes of waste every year and that more than a tonne of this is thrown away, relegated to landfills, sent overseas, burnt or dumped into the ocean—until now. This thing has changed in Australia. We know that almost 60 kilograms of plastic waste per person is produced each year, and that if plastic pollution continues, as it has, in 30 years our precious seas will be home to more plastic than fish. This is not a world any of us want to live in. The Morrison government unequivocally showed its support in the last budget by funding waste reduction measures, increasing recycling rates and building capacity in Australia's recycling industry. You cannot do this without industry and sector capacity. I'm proud to recall our parliamentary inquiry into our recycling industry; I encourage all to look at its final report, From rubbish to resources: building a circular economy,and its 24 recommendations.

The Morrison government is driving a $1 billion transformation of the industry. Putting $190 million towards the Recycling Modernisation Fund will allow millions in infrastructure to be leveraged in order to sort, process and manufacture waste materials. Not only will this allow Australia to phase in recycling of 645,000 tonnes every year, in alignment with the Morrison government's world-leading export ban—as the Prime Minister has said, 'It's our waste, it's our responsibility'; this fund will create 10,000 new jobs over the next 10 years by expanding Australia's recycling industry and infrastructure. That translates to an increase of 32 per cent of jobs in the Australian waste and recycling sector.

I was very pleased to speak to the Australian waste conference earlier this year. All the Australian states and territories, bar Northern Territory, have Recycling Modernisation Fund agreements in place, with 52 new infrastructure projects across the country. Just one instance is in Victoria: the Morrison government has funded equipment to produce a new patented system for concrete slab foundations made from 100 per cent recycled plastic. This kind of innovation is valued by the government, and grants like this will continue as Australia phases in our waste export ban.

The Morrison government is establishing a Food Waste for Healthy Soils Fund to divert 3.4 million tonnes of organic material from landfill for productive use in agricultural soils. This is all about returning today's organic waste back to the soil to ensure that soil grows our food for tomorrow, and our topsoil in Australia needs this organic waste. By achieving the Morrison government's goal of 80 per cent recovery for organic waste Australia will generate $401 million in industry value and add that to the Australian economy. It will create up to 2,700 additional jobs and it will avoid over two million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Morrison government has also committed $20 million towards product stewardship, whereby responsibility is shared for managing the environmental impacts of products we use every day. Gone are the days when companies can wilfully ignore their products' ongoing environmental effects. The Morrison government is committed to this, and 20 businesses have already been supported through this scheme. One of those organisations is the Australian Food and Grocery Council, which has been granted less than a million dollars to work to bring the food and grocery supply chain together to deliver a national scheme to enhance the collection and processing of plastic packaging. If you go into your supermarket you can already see these sorts of initiatives being rolled out. This will help us to recover plastics—an estimated 189,000 tonnes each year. This is about getting on with the job of helping Australia's future.

The Morrison government understands that we need to invest in this sector and to continue to support Australian businesses which are not just innovative but future focused. That's why we're supporting small and medium-sized businesses to adopt the Australasian recycling scheme. This will help them to improve their recycling of packaging and to compete with larger businesses, and it will help Australians to be better informed about the purchase they're making and foster an attitude that's considerate of their role in the environment and our world's future.

This billion-dollar transformation of the recycling sector is once in a generation, and I commend the Morrison government for their leadership and investment in Australia's future—an investment that will see Australia's waste footprint fall by 10 million tonnes. It will help to protect our environment and it will help to create 10,000 jobs over the next decade. What's not to like about that?

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