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A plastic anniversary ...

20/6/2018

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PicturePeter Garrett in 2008. Picture: John Cokley
The Chinese love auspicious occasions and today is one of them for Queensland (and for me, it turns out). Today the supermarket giant Woolworths stopped offering single-use plastic bags in our Sunshine State, and 10 years ago (in just over a month) I was lodged in a media scrum photographing then-Environment Minister Peter Garrett (left, now Midnight Oil frontman 2.0) and writing down his words that Australia probably wouldn't be banning single use plastic bags anytime soon. He was absolutely correct ... while bans filtered in gradually around the country, it's taken supermarkets in our state (where Garrett was on the day) 10 years to make the move. You can read my story here, on the then-citizen journalism site Oh My News.

Here's some of that report:

Minister Garrett is on record as urging a total phase-out of the bags by January 2009 but based on what he said today, achieving this looks extremely unlikely.

"It is within the power of the Commonwealth to do that [impose a ban] but that's not the policy position at the moment," former Midnight Oil rock singer Garrett told a packed lunch crowd in Brisbane at noon local time on Monday.

Instead, the government has opted for what it calls collaborative federalism, where it seeks to obtain a joint decision with the six states and two self-governing territories about the issue.


But the overwhelming position of the states and territories is away from a ban on the plastic shopping bags.

"Ministers from state and federal levels met in April to discuss the issue of plastic bags," Garrett said before the lunch.

"There was a range of positions put but only South Australia proposed a ban on plastic shopping bags."

Victoria proposed a trial 10 cent per bag levy to see whether this would reduce public use of the micro-thin high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bags.

Garrett said the trial would be evaluated when the country's environment ministers meet again on the issue in November.

At the current rate of reduction in Australia (two billion bags every three years), a total "phase-out" could not happen until 2011. 

​It turns out that in 2018, it's still a little way off.

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Quick! School ... books ... sale ... on ... now ... until 29/6/18

19/6/2018

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Our friends at XYZ Books in Brisbane are changing from "just selling" to "making and selling" books ... fabulous. And to help make space for the new enterprise, (Enlighten Press) they're having a sale ... a 35%-45% discount sale, which in bookselling is as close to "cost price" as you get. It's happening right now -- from today until Friday next week. Just call (07) 3878 7120 or email enquiries@xyzbooks.com.au ... (PS, they're at Kenmore in Brisbane but if you're out of town they still want to talk to you.) I've seen their collection and it would suit primary and secondary school libraries ... especially with progressive tastes but a restricted budget. 
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    Authors

    Australian-born photojournalists John Cokley and Pip Hanrick toured Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Singapore and some of their collected notes, advice, new stories and original images appear here, our food and wine feature Far Flung Food and in other travel publications (see links as they're published). Contact John and Pip by email through their publisher, Small Batch Books.

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