Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Fremantle for moving the motion. Our water is our most precious resource. Water gives life. It nurtures life. None of us can live without water. We are particularly lucky to have the best beaches in the world, but there is a very real threat facing our oceans, rivers, estuaries, creeks and streams in our beautiful country. Plastic is polluting our precious water. This is a problem all over the world.

Most of you know that I was a dolphin trainer many years ago. I had four dolphins that I took care of. My favourite dolphin's name was Ting Loy. He was a cheeky boy and very playful. We had a very strong connection. Whenever I got into the pool or water he would swim fast to me and always wanted to play with me. He had such an energy and always made me smile. But one day when I got into water he didn't swim up to me. Instead, he was lying at the bottom of the pool not moving. We had a vet see him and the vet had to cut open his tummy. There were a lot of plastic bags in his tummy—so much plastic, full of it. I lost my good friend. Do you know how his tummy was full of plastics? The pool was on the slope of a hill where there was a road and people used to drive past, stop and throw bags of fish into the pool. My dolphins would eat the fish but eat the plastic bags too. Even now when I talk about it I get sad and angry—angry at the people who throw their rubbish to create a problem for someone or something else, angry at people who choke our precious environment or wildlife with disregard and a lack of care. This was 40 years ago. Imagine how much more plastic has been polluting since then.

Microplastics permeate our environment. They leach into our water, our food. The average Australian ingests a credit card worth of microplastic every week. If we fail to act there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight by 2050. If we fail to act our marine life, our wildlife, our food system, our environment and we as a species are sure to suffer.

Tragically there has been very little action on recycling and plastic for a decade. Australians know this. Australians are aware and want to act. The modern world requires fresh, modern solutions. Our government understands this. At home we are rolling out the $250 million Recycling Modernisation Fund. This will expand Australia's capacity to sort, process and remanufacture glass, plastic, tyres, paper and cardboard. We are also investing $60 million to support new recycling infrastructure for hard to recycle plastics, including soft plastics. Three billion dollars has been set aside in the National Reconstruction Fund for clean energy, green matters, waste reduction and remanufacturing.

On the global stage, Australia has also joined the High Ambition Coalition for an international treaty to end plastic pollution by 2040. Australia has also committed to work towards a common vision for a circular economy for plastic by signing the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. Kids within my electorate often talk to me about the environment. They raise concerns about what the future might look like, and they fear that we have not done enough in the past. To these kids, I say: don't lose hope. There is always good work to be done. Get involved. I warmly encourage you to join your local community action group. One such group in my electorate is the Bottle Top Hill Project, a community sustainability program. Bottle Top Hill also uses the spirit of a circular economy to guide their activities and focus throughout the 12 months of the year. There is good work to be done, both at home and in the government. Let's get on with it for our planet, for our kids and for our future.

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