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

Senator Whish-Wilson, I come from the state of South Australia. You might remember the arguments over what I think was called container deposit legislation. We ended up going it alone, and, frankly, it proved to be the right response.

Could I just go through what I understand to be what we have done in the six months we've been in office. There's a $250 million investment in infrastructure to sort, process and re-manufacture materials, including $60 million in the recent budget for hard-to-recycle plastics, such as soft plastics. The minister has added plastics from medical waste, mattresses and tyres to the minister's priority list. Listing these products is a signal to industry to act, and, if not, then obviously government can. In October, Minister Plibersek led the environment ministers' agreement to reform the regulation of packaging by 2025.

Obviously, there is more work to do, but we understand how important this is not just for the environment but actually for Australians.