Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water's final report of the inquiry into the impact of plastic pollution on Australia's oceans and waterways. The report is titled Drowning in waste: plastic pollution in Australia's oceans and waterways.

This inquiry was requested by the Minister for the Environment and Water, the Hon. Tanya Plibersek, in October 2022. It has had a particular lens on the impact of plastic pollution in oceans and waterways, including microplastics. The terms of reference set by the committee covered consideration of the effectiveness of Australia's management framework under the National Plastics Plan; the effectiveness of the Australian government's engagement with states, territories, industry and non-government organisations; the effectiveness of community campaigns; and current global initiatives. The committee received 71 submissions from around the country, representing a broad cross-section of government; the science and academic community; industry, including manufacturing, retail and peak organisations; environmental organisations; and community groups.

One submission that I would like to draw particular attention to is that of one of my constituents, Susie Crick. Susie is the CEO of the Oceanic Research Institute and branch president of the Surfrider Foundation. She is passionate about transitioning from plastics to more sustainable materials, and through her submission there is a harrowing quote that I thought of often during the inquiry. She said:

It will be challenging to make the shift from the convenience of plastic because we touch plastic more than we do our loved ones.

In June 2023 the committee travelled to Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney to make site visits and engage in four of the six public hearings that were conducted. During the Adelaide site visits, we met with AUSMAP, who are a nationwide citizen science program that aims to quantify microplastic pollution, with the primary goals of identifying litter hotspots and assisting in source reduction. Separate from participating in the inquiry, AUSMAP were awarded a National Science Week grant in 2023 and took their passion on the road. Their first two events of National Science Week 2023 were held in Wollongong, with AUSMAP's research director, Dr Scott, and Juniper, their science officer, running an AUSMAP training day and community day, inspiring and engaging the local community. Sampling at a Belmore Basin beach site in my electorate saw rubber crumb fragments coming from local playgrounds, raising important conversations around the issue.

While this report primarily reflects evidence dating from late 2022 into early 2023, the committee recognises this report does not encompass the full story of plastics pollution. Since the Senate Environment and Communications Reference Committee inquiry into the then-current research and understanding of plastic pollution reported in 2016, evidence documenting the extent and impact of plastic pollution has grown exponentially. Plastic undoubtedly plays a significant role in almost every area of life. It is the most prevalent of human-made products and is used across diverse sectors. It is lightweight, mouldable, durable, cheap to produce and performs critical functions, including within the medical industry and for food protection and preservation.

However, its environmental impact is now a source of great concern. The persistence of plastic in the environment after disposal has created a significant problem globally. Pertinently said by DCCEEW in their submission, plastics can leak into the terrestrial environment at various stages of their lifecycle and end up in our oceans. They can easily spread all over the world via air, natural and manmade waterways and oceans. From terrestrial environments, large river systems have been identified as the main pathways that spread plastics into our oceans, and plastic has been found in every corner of the earth. From the Arctic Ocean to the sea ice around Antarctica and in the deepest oceanic trench on earth, the Mariana Trench, estimated to be over 10,000 metres deep, there is plastic to be found.

Toothbrushes, bottle caps, cigarette lighters and other hard plastic items and fragments are found in the stomachs and remains of many marine species that have died slowly and painfully from starvation. The most common entanglement injuries to sea turtles, seabirds, whales and marine mammals occurred from discarded fishing gear or ghost nets, plastic bags, clothing, rope and sixpack rings, causing restricted mobility, scoliosis, starvation, smothering and wounding, which in turn leads to infections, amputation of limbs and death. While some microplastics are intentionally produced for use in consumer products, through weathering and wave action, larger pieces of plastic in the ocean can break down over time, becoming microplastics—fragments smaller than five millimetres in diameter. This means that plastic can enter the lower level of the food chain, consumed by smaller marine wildlife such as fish, crustaceans and plankton, and then in turn move up the food chain. Adding to the complexity of their environmental impact, plastics contain a diversity of chemical additives that can leach into the air, soil and water at every phase of the product's lifecycle. The current estimation of 150 million metric tonnes of waste plastic in the ocean is expected to quadruple by 2040, just 16 years away. If no action is taken, it is predicted that, in only 26 years' time, the amount of plastic in the ocean will outweigh fish.

Australians consume plastic at three times the global average, and this rate continues to grow. Except for Singapore, Australia's consumption of single-use plastics per person is higher than in any other country in the world. This is not a new problem, but it is an enduring and insidious problem. It will not be solved overnight, but it cannot be ignored. We need to take decisive steps towards making a real difference now and into the future. The committee has therefore made 22 recommendations that emphasise collaboration, consistent national standards, bolstering existing schemes and developing new approaches, research and measures to mitigate the complexity of challenges we face.

The recommendations draw attention to challenges faced in remote areas of Australia and to engagement and collaboration with overseas institutions. The committee recommends that the Australian government, through DCCEEW and in consultation with state and territory governments, industry and the community, develop an updated National Plastics Plan. The updated plan, based on an overarching circular economy, should contain reporting and transparency measures to monitor progress and accountability and should be in place within 12 months of the tabling of this report. The department should report to parliament on the progress of key actions through its annual report. To be included in the plan, we recommend developing policies that track and limit polymer production in Australia, aim to reduce and enable visibility of the composition of imported plastics and, in collaboration with industry, strengthen product stewardship and the use of recycled content.

The department should also engage with industry to revise and strengthen the goals included in the 2025 National Packaging Targets. We recommend that the Australian government take a leadership role in coordinating and tracking the reduction of the use of plastics; harmonise, standardise and expand programs already in place, such as single-use plastic bans, the container deposit system and waste collection systems; standardise and simplify plastic packaging and labelling; and develop and fund a comprehensive and nationwide public awareness and education campaign that includes impacts and risks associated with microplastics.

Giving further regard to microplastics, the department should commission comprehensive research to determine the impacts of microplastics ingestion, inhalation and skin contact, including of absorbed toxins on humans, with the initial research to be made public in July 2026. Additionally, the government should engage with the environment ministers meeting to prioritise a national microplastic reduction strategy.

As a matter of urgency the Australian government should prioritise a sustainable end market for recovered plastics, considering incentives or mandates and including options for rural and remote areas. Additionally, the department should conduct a feasibility study into appropriate plastic disposal options for rural and regional areas, with the development of pilot programs by December 2025. In the development of any targeted solutions, the department should ensure that First Nations peoples are included, consulted and actively involved.

I want to thank those who brought to this inquiry their expertise, passion and time, through hearings and submissions, and the committee secretariat for their hard work. I commend the report to the Chamber.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This shirt I'm wearing is made from Australian cotton. The cotton industry is an industry which has been demonised by many in this place. Cotton is a very good agricultural product, and Australian cotton growers do it better than any other nation on earth. But this shirt has a number of plastic buttons on it, and I've put in place plastic collar stays to make my ties sit better, and that's all well and good. But when the shirts come in the boxes, when these shirts are bought from stores, they contain so many pins and bits of plastic, around the collar, right through the sleeves, cuffs—the whole bit. It is unbelievable. And it's not just shirts. Just about every product we buy now comes wrapped in plastic, with so much material around it. It's not just to safeguard people from whatever condition the makers might think is going to befall customers when they open products. It's just nonsense. What we're seeing is a deluge of plastic being forced upon a society that puts consumerism above all else.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water concluded its inquiry into plastic pollution in Australia's oceans and waterways earlier this year. It tabled a report on 28 May. The final report, which was tabled in parliament on that day, made 22 recommendations aimed at strengthening Australia's plastics management framework to minimise plastic waste to landfill, incentivise the use of recycled materials in the productions of new plastics and strengthen the management of the plastics already in the environment. The chair of the committee was the member for Makin, and I very much agree with the comments he made at the time. I think any person who is concerned not just about the here and now but, indeed, about the future of our planet would also agree with much of what the member for Makin said. He said:

Without urgent action, plastic waste will increase and continue to negatively impact our oceans and waterways.

He continued:

Australia needs to act now to protect its natural environment for future generations.

He is right, of course. He is absolutely correct.

I am the shadow minister for international development and the Pacific and I've gone to the Pacific on a number of occasions in my shadow portfolio work. One of the big issues in the Pacific is the great Pacific garbage patch. This whirlpool of pollution is larger than many European countries, and what a sad reality that is! As the member for Cunningham has just said, the ocean contains pollution in its deepest parts. Indeed, it is even in the Mariana Trench, which she mentioned, and elsewhere, right throughout not just the great Pacific garbage patch but our oceans and waterways and across the seven seas. There are plastics at the very bottom of our oceans, and if we are serious about climate change and about taking action to make sure that our planet is the best it can be in the future then our oceans are going to play a huge, if not the largest, part in that. If we continue to pollute our oceans at the rate we are then heaven help the planet.

It might come as a surprise to know that the great Pacific garbage patch was first identified in the 1940s. That is quite incredible. The rubbish that we have been putting into our oceans has been going in there for decades, but the great garbage patch is getting larger and larger, and at a faster and faster rate, and that is of great concern because, if we don't do something about it and if we don't address, first of all, the amount of plastics that we are producing, then our oceans have no chance. It's things such as shirts and the products and packaging that we're putting out into society.

The coalition government is often maligned, unfairly, for the actions that we took on the environment and climate, but I will give a shout-out to the former environment minister, the current member for Farrer, for what she did in this respect. Even in April 2021 she was out there announcing an additional $100 million investment so Australia and our region could continue leading the world in managing our ocean habitats and coastal environments and contributing to the global task of reducing emissions. The media release put out on 23 April 2021 stated:

As the world's only island continent, Australia has always understood that how we manage our oceans and coastal environments will determine the success or failure of our world's efforts to address climate change. That is why we have been leading the world in taking action in this important area.

And it is an important area because, as I stated, if we don't get it right with the oceans then the planet has no chance whatsoever.

It's not only good for the environment and not only the right thing to do; it's actually good for jobs. The number of young people I encounter these days who are environmental scientists who, with biodiversity, supporting the oceans, recycling and climate resilience—but particularly the oceans—in mind, care deeply about what we are doing and how we are doing it is quite remarkable. I know that there are many companies—I had one come in to see me this week, but there's also one building a huge facility in Parkes within my current Riverina electorate boundary—that will be converting waste to energy, and that is to be commended.

This take-note motion on the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water report handed down in May this year is important. As the member for Makin has said, many Australians want to recycle correctly but inconsistencies amongst states and territories have led consumers to believe certain items are recyclable or compostable when they are not. As he stated further, the committee recommends nationally harmonising single-use plastic bans, waste collection standards and the container deposit scheme. That is a big ask because I remember the pushback even in New South Wales when the container deposit system was put in place there. South Australia has had it for many, many years—

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It has.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I see the member for Boothby agreeing. If you have a bottle—I believe it's plastic or glass—you can get a 10c, if not higher, refund on that. I remember, growing up as a kid, we had that system in place whereby you could get money back on your rubbish and other people's as well. Kids would go around football grounds and showgrounds et cetera; there was very little litter because kids would go around and collect it and get a refund for it for lollies or whatever the case might be. These days, it seems kids are so well off that they don't have to do it; you don't see them carting around big bags and collecting all the bottles after a football game or an event in an open area like a concert et cetera.

This is an important take-note motion because our waterways are too important to get wrong. I encourage and urge the committee and others to acknowledge the work the Morrison government in particular did in this area. I know Australia's strength and support for a global plastics treaty was something both the member for Farrer and then Prime Minister Morrison pushed. The Pacific declaration urges the international community to start work on a legally binding global agreement as soon as possible; that happened during our last term of government. Support for a plastic-pollution treaty has grown exponentially, from fewer than 70 countries, at the time we very much supported it and got behind it, to more than 110 nations. This is important. We have to get it right. Our oceans are too important not to get it right, and we also need to address one of the hugest climate issues—that is, what we do about landfill.

Debate adjourned.