2017-01-16 GC - Attachment 1 to Item 8 - Plastic Bag Discussion Paper

                                   Message from the Minister
                                 Queensland has one of the most beautiful and iconic natural environments in the world.
                                 Every year tens of thousands of people visit the Great Barrier Reef and every weekend scores of
                                 Queenslanders take to our beaches, waterways and bushland to relax and re-energise.
                                 The Queensland Government is committed to protecting this unique environment and there are
                                 a number of actions that we can take to achieve this.
                                 One of the most obvious actions is addressing the amount of plastic litter that we find in the
                                 environment. Plastic bags are the most conspicuous plastic litter item and they easily find their
                                 way onto our beaches and into our parks.
Plastic bags are a convenient way for us to carry all sorts of things home from the shops and they have become a big part of our
everyday lives. But we tend not to think about the consequences if they end up in the wrong place.
All the scientific evidence is showing us that there is plastic at all levels of the food chain in our oceans. Plastic bags have one
of the biggest impacts on our environment—and particularly on our marine environment and fauna. When plastic bags get into
our waterways and marine environment animals like sea turtles and sea birds can ingest, or become entangled in, them.
Beyond the amenity problem with plastic litter, the cumulative effect of plastic bags in our environment is a very real concern to
the community. The good news is that we know we can do something to reduce the impact of plastic in the environment.
When major supermarkets around Australia took voluntary action several years ago, consumers responded well to the
message that we needed to find alternatives to the single-use plastic bag. In the three years of voluntary action, the number of
lightweight bags in use was reduced by around 44 per cent. Unfortunately once the voluntary actions stopped our use of plastic
bags started to increase.
This is why four Australian states and territories have passed legislation banning the supply of lightweight plastic bags.
The Queensland Government is introducing a similar legislated ban on lightweight plastic bags. What we are doing is
certainly not new. Bans have been in place for many years around the world and individual companies and towns have been
implementing voluntary initiatives for some time.
The time is right for Queensland to take action to reduce the amount of plastic that is getting into our environment. The
scientific evidence about the harmful impacts of plastic in the environment is growing every day. The Queensland Government
sees a plastic bag ban as a critical step in a long term plastic pollution reduction plan.
We also want to take the next step and take a lead role in working with retailers nationally to develop voluntary initiatives to
reduce the use of the thicker department store-style bags.
Complementary to the introduction of a lightweight plastic shopping bag ban, the Queensland Government will introduce a
container deposit scheme. These two initiatives will work together to help reduce the amount of plastic litter in the environment.
I invite you to have your say about the government’s plan to ban lightweight plastic bags by visiting www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au



Dr Steven Miles MP
Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection
Minister for National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef




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