2017/07: Should Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia ban plastic bags?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On April 19, 2017, Channel 10’s current affairs program, The Project, called for plastic bags to be banned in Australia. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'We are not going to solve the problem of waste by focusing on plastic bags'
David Santillo, a senior biologist with Greenpeace
'It's really frustrating because these things are having an enormous impact on the environment'
Terrie-Ann Johnson, managing director of Clean Up Australia
The issue at a glance
On April 19, 2017, Channel 10's current affairs program, The Project, together with Clean Up Australia, called on the Victorian, New South Wales and Western Australian governments to ban lightweight, single-use plastic bags.
Viewers have been urged to sign a Change.org petition to show their support for a ban, as well as writing to each state premier. The petition attracted almost 6000 signatures in half an hour.
A similar petition calling for plastic bags to be banned in New South Wales, launched in February, 2017, attracted more than 15,000 signatures.
None of the state governments called on by The Project and Clean Up Australia has yet replied to the challenge.
On November 25, 2016, the Queensland government announced that it would introduce a ban on single-use plastic bags beginning in 2018. After this announcement the Queensland government instituted a consultation process to gauge community reaction.
On March 3, 2017, it was announced that 95 percent of the 26,000 submissions the Queensland government received on the issue favoured the banning of single-use plastic bags.