Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Repeal Bill

I rise most happily to speak on this bill, a bill which really speaks to the good that is being done in this parliament, the Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Repeal Bill 2024. As of 1 September 2024, all plastic film shopping bags were banned in South Australia, so this bill seeks to avoid legislative duplication. This fact alone is such a giant step forward for us as a society and a sign that it does not matter how long something has been the norm when, as a society, we realise the error of our ways and we can do things differently and better.

I remember when I first moved to a jurisdiction that had banned single-use shopping bags in supermarkets, in this case Canberra where I lived for a year in 2012. I remember thinking, 'How damn sensible. Of course I can bring my own reusable shopping bags to the supermarket.' In the beginning, I did forget a few times, to be honest, and so I would load all my groceries into the boot of my car, not in any bags, and then unload them again when I got home. I soon remembered to bring my own shopping bags. I have been a convert to the practice ever since, and, frankly, going to jurisdictions like New South Wales that really were late to the party on this issue, well, they just seemed out of step.

In my first speech to this place, I spoke about my childhood in the country and riding my horse through the Australian bush. I truly believe growing up in the country, having that experience, gave me a deep love of nature and the bush and I think it is this love of nature that causes me to be so saddened when I see it spoiled by rubbish, particularly rubbish that we know takes hundreds even thousands of years to break down as plastic does, and even worse is that it often actually breaks down into microplastics on the way. We know that microplastics are now ubiquitous, so much so that they are in the human bloodstream.

So while plastic is a very useful invention and a very important part of our economy and will no doubt be something we as humans will quite possibly always make use of, it is self-evident that it has been overused. From islands in South-East Asia, where otherwise beautiful beaches are littered with single-use plastics, to the Galapagos Islands and even the Antarctic, we have evidence all around us of its overuse.

The prelude to this bill of course was not only the Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Act 2008, which banned lightweight singlet-style plastic shopping bags that are less than 35 microns in thickness, but also the Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Act 2020, which broadened the scope of the plastic shopping bag ban and introduced a phased plan to ban single-use and other plastic products.

So what has been the story so far? Starting in March 2021, single-use plastic straws, cutlery and stirrers were banned. These single-use items have been replaced with reusable and plastic-free compostable alternatives we are already so used to seeing in use. In March 2022, polystyrene cups, bowls, plates and clamshell containers were also banned. These oxo-degradable plastic products have additives, which I personally find shocking, that actually enable the plastic to break down into microplastics.

In September 2023, plastic-stemmed cotton buds for personal use, single-use plastic bowls and plates, and plastic pizza savers were banned, of course with medical exemptions where necessary (probably not with the pizza savers). Most recently, in September 2024, thick supermarket or boutique-style plastic bags were banned as well as single-use plastic beverage containers, such as coffee cups, polystyrene food and beverage containers, and trays used for meat, fruit and other food items were also banned.

The final stage will be this year when as of 1 September 2025, plastic fruit stickers, plastic soy sauce fish and prepackaged and attached products such as products that contain plastic straws or cutlery will be phased out. I have to say I personally will be thrilled when an alternative is found to those little fruit and veg stickers which I am a bit obsessed with picking off fruit and veg as soon as I buy it. Of course, in undertaking this exercise in bringing our use of single-use plastics into the modern age, extensive consultation was carried out, including with specific stakeholders expected to be directly impacted by the amendment regulations and the South Australian public with the overwhelming number of respondents expressing their strong support, including that of business owners.

Additionally, exemptions were made for unavoidable uses of single-use plastic, such as plastic in medical settings and in the case of certified compostable plastic shopping bags. And so we see that the introduction of the Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Act 2008 was subsequently superseded by the expanded Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Act 2020. This bill, the Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Repeal Bill 2024 seeks to repeal that 2008 act and the subsequent Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Regulation 2022 and streamline the regulation of single-use plastic under the one expanded bill.

I truly thank the minister, her staff and the department for continuing to ensure that South Australia is at the forefront of environmental policy in this country. I am proud to be South Australian and I am proud to be part of this thoughtful government. This is an example of government that does not say, 'Oh that's too hard. Plastics are too entrenched in society, we can't sensibly reduce their use.' This government looks at what needs to be done, looks at how it can be done and gets on with it. I commend this bill to the house.