9.39am- Bill on the Classification of Edible Consumables’ Environmental Footprint kicks off with Nicholas Barker of Castlemaine.
9.44am- Tanna Reynolds points out the difficulties of executing this bill for smaller producers. It is not “easy peasy lemon squeezy but lemon difficult lemon difficult lemon difficult!”
9.49am- This bill helps “fight against waste and needless pollution” in the world, empowering individuals to be more conscientious of their purchase choices.
10.01am- “Big businesses will be reluctant and small businesses will not comply.”
10.10am- Clarissa Cornelius points to the problems of packaging stickers being either too big and defacing the product or too small and illegible/ignored by consumers.
10.13am- Sam Leeder believes that the bill promotes “trade isolationist” thinking where any products, no matter how environmentally unsustainable, should they be coming from overseas would “automatically score atrociously” on the stickers.
10.23am- In the amendments phase the Opposition are pushing for the sticker to show an aggregate score rather than detailing the kilometres used, water consumed etc.
10.28am- After heated debate, the bill passed unanimously!
Mandatory use of Biodegradable or Recyclable Bags Bill
11.00am- “An initiative like this will turn Victoria into a leading environmental powerhouse” Porter Mattinson
11.02am- The root of the issue lies in the supply of plastic… This Bill ensure’s an economically viable transition for any business” Hon. Member Jessica
11.04am- Opposition “The pins that we are wearing on our lapels they came in plastic bags are we outlawing those too?” Hon. Member Jake Stevens
11.08am- Heavy reliance on the EPA to implement this Bill, there is a failure to recognise their capacity to do this as they will be the sole body allocated to implement all aspects of this Bill. Hon Member Lauren Murphy
11.10am- The first thing I learnt in legal studies Mr Speaker is that for laws to be effective they need to be enforceable Hon. Member Jonathan Han
11.12am- Hon Member Tanna Reynolds lightens the mood during technical reboot pause with yet another pun
11.18am- “Plastic bags have a destructive effect on the environment and its species… Only 1% of plastic bag are recyleced each year and resources used to produce plastics bags such as petroleum is a finite resource” Hon. Member Will Christie
11.22am- “Uganda who has managed to implement a similar type of Bill have been able to introduce this in half the amount of time proposed” Hon. member Jackson Young
11.25am- Hon. Member Tanna Reynolds says we need to think of Charles (the turtle) when using bio-degradable plastic bags
11.27am- “It seems all the government cares about is not the long term sustainability of this Bill but rather the fact that bio-degradable plastic costs more to produce”, Hon. Member Fatima Mozaffari
11.29am- “Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia all third world countries have one up on us… They have all banned plastic bags”, Hon. Member Niamh Healy
11.36am- “Half our Victorian companies are already transitioning to bio-degradable bags and obviously say yes to bio-degradable options” Hon. Eiddwen Jeffrey
11.41am- Bill has passed with a unanimous decision from all members
Hobsons Bay City Council | Northern Pacific Sea Star Regulation Bill 2017
13:50pm – Sam Leeder sponsors the Bill, detailing the impact Northern Pacific Sea Stars have on the Port Philip Bay area.
13:55pm – Faith Ferhad refutes the Bill, claiming that this is a solution to a ‘perceived’ problem and goes on to cite case studies where similar solutions were not successful.
13:57pm – Alex Bowden suggests that the ‘removal of the species is necessary for other marine life to thrive’ in the area.
13:59pm – Katie Nelly claims that the Bill is a ‘bandaid solution to an impossible problem’.
14:04pm – Charlotte Morrison argues against the negative impacts of eradicating the sea stars compared to the environmental impacts of not.
14:07pm – Phoebe Butler claims that the sea star ‘is just doing what it needs to survive’.
14:09pm – David Storey-Mills suggests that there is a failure in outlining how education shall occur in practicalities of the Bill.
14:12pm – Young opposes government arguments that this isn’t causing extinction in a species.
14:14pm – Brodee Turner relates the Bill to genocide and immigration.
14:17pm – Sulieman Magisha suggests that we should not interfere with the ‘circle of life’, similar to The Lion King.
14:20pm – Nicholas Barker claims that the Bill is facile and will not address core problems.
14:21pm – Fatima Mozaffari suggests that the invasiveness of the animal outweighs any qualms over killing it.
14:28 – Chamberleader of the opposition Tanna Reynolds states that, ‘we must value Australian flora and fauna within Australia.’