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

I do recall the minister making a public statement about that, and I think I probably signed off on the credentials for the delegation. I don't have a brief in front of me that goes into detail to some of the questions you asked, so I will ask the environment minister to give me some advice if needed in order to add to my answer. It is correct to say that the minister did attend the discussions in relation to the development of a global treaty to end plastic pollution by 2040. I understand, both publicly and in terms of the advice I've been given now, that it was Australia's position that the treaty should be legally binding and include strong targets. That is also a view that is shared, as Senator Whish-Wilson would know, by many of our Pacific neighbours. If you'll indulge me with a small anecdote: when I was younger and used to do a lot of scuba diving in South-East Asia, it was bad then. I can only imagine that it has got a lot worse since.

Having said that, I don't have an update as to precisely what the conduct of the negotiations yielded. I will obtain advice on that, Senator Whish-Wilson, but I would make the point that we do have an environment minister, in Ms Plibersek, who is deeply committed to ensuring that in government we do all that we are able, whether it's in relation to plastics or more broadly, to repair nature and is committed to making sure that there is a measurable difference, as a consequence of the work she is doing, to our environment.