Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank you for the question. I acknowledge there are quite a lot of representing ministers here, so I understand the mistake that was made. We share your frustration and the frustration of Australians with what has occurred in the soft-plastics recycling sector. I know that, in our household and in many households, people who have done the right thing, put soft plastics together in a big bag and taken them down to the local supermarket in the hope of actually reducing the amount of soft plastic in the environment were very, very disappointed by the news of the financial position the industry was in but also the lack of results.

I was asked the question: why is it beyond big business? Well, I guess you'd have to ask them. What I can say is that it's clear the regulatory settings that were in place and the incentives that were in place, whether they were government or market driven, were insufficient for that sector to work.

We know that there is not just environmental but economic benefit in recycling, as opposed to landfill. Knowing Ms Plibersek as I do and knowing her determination, as Minister for the Environment and Water, to take action on this, I have no doubt she will look very carefully at what the best way forward is. This is an issue where I would say to the industry that Australians are clear in terms of their behaviours—what they want to do—and it would be a good thing if the market could respond to that incentive, which is that people want to do the right thing.