Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to discuss Australia’s need for a national container deposit scheme. In my electorate of La Trobe, I am lucky enough to see many of Australia’s most unusual and exotic creatures, such as the lyrebird, the wallaby, the echidna and the platypus, living in their natural environment. In particular, one of the things I have been most fascinated by is going around the local creeks in the Dandenong Ranges and never actually seeing a platypus but hearing the stories about how we have them living there. But one of the biggest problems is weeds. I must digress for one second and say how upsetting it was that the Rudd government removed a $450,000 commitment to removing wandering trad, a weed which is clogging up the creeks, in my electorate. Also, sadly, in these creeks we have bottles and containers, which are a great nuisance to the local animals and, in particular, to the platypus.

There is something that seems quite remarkable. Recycling is a very important issue in my electorate, and all the people of La Trobe do their utmost to recycle. In particular, Clematis Creek—where there is talk that a platypus has been seen recently—is bounded by two shires, the shire of Yarra Ranges and the shire of Cardinia. Both councils have very strong recycling programs, yet when I go down and have a look at Clematis Creek I come across bottles and cans.

Two or three weeks ago I was walking along Sherbrooke Road in Sherbrooke and, to my amazement, every 20 or 30 metres I saw bottles and Coke cans. This area abuts Sherbrooke Forest, a beautiful place. It just goes to show how uncaring some people can be about where they drop their rubbish and, with a lot of these cans and bottles having been there for a number of years, it shows that rubbish is not being collected.

In 1975, the Dunstan Labor government of South Australia, fed up with people not heeding the anti-litter message, passed the Beverage Container Act—and I congratulate them on doing that—which legislated for a container deposit refund system. It was hoped that the Beverage Container Act would reduce the amount of litter in the streets. Every plastic bottle has the words ‘This bottle can be exchanged for a 5c refund when sold in South Australia’ printed on its label. So you see this refund message in South Australia but not in Victoria. On visiting Adelaide several years ago, I noticed a sizeable reduction of litter in the streets; in fact, I did not see one soft drink bottle or aluminium can. The success of container deposit legislation in South Australia is self-evident.

I believe that the best way to tackle the littering problem and encourage recycling is to establish a national container deposit scheme. Based on South Australian figures, a national scheme could save up to 500,000 tonnes of packaging landfill each year—equal to about 12 billion bottles and cans. That would be 12 billion bottles that are currently not being recycled, that are lining our streets and that are flowing into our stormwater drains and down our creeks or taking up space in landfills.

Figures from the 2007 Clean Up Australia Day show that beverage containers and associated litter account for more than 20 per cent of all litter collected, up from 18.5 per cent of litter collected in the 2001 Clean Up Australia Day. Container deposit legislation will provide more incentives for people to recycle and can work in conjunction with existing kerbside recycling services.

The advantages of a container deposit scheme are not limited to environmental benefits. I recall when I was in the scouting movement how we used to collect bottles and cans for the 5c refund. What I am proposing here, as has been proposed by environmental groups, is a national scheme where there is a 10 per cent item deposit on cans and bottles. I strongly support this and believe it is in the interest of not only my electorate but electorates right across the country.

I disagree with those who are opposed to this because it will affect the kerbside recycling done by the council. It will mean that the council will have another avenue of funding and at the same time we will be doing our utmost to protect the environment. (Time expired)