MEDIA RELEASE: LABOR TACKLES MARINE PLASTICS ON OUR BEACHES – LABOR’S CLEAN OUR OCEANS PROGRAM

TONY BURKE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
SHADOW MINISTER FOR CITIZENSHIP AND MULTICULTURAL AUSTRALIA
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE ARTS
MEMBER FOR WATSON
 
LABOR TACKLES MARINE PLASTICS ON OUR BEACHES – LABOR’S CLEAN OUR OCEANS PROGRAM
 

A Shorten Labor Government is committed to tackling the issue of plastic pollution on our beaches and in our oceans.
 
Single use plastics, including PET water bottles, are some of the most wasteful and environmentally damaging products, with thousands of them ending up in our oceans every day, polluting our pristine beaches and choking our marine wildlife.
 
Labor’s Clean Our Oceans Program is a proposal to partner with Surf Clubs and the Clean Oceans Initiative to reduce and eventually eliminate, single use plastic water bottles from our beaches.
 
Labor’s Clean Our Oceans Program will provide the nippers program with up to 600,000 reusable water bottles, and help Surf Life Saving clubs around Australia put in place up to 600 water refill stations on our beaches and the systems and procedures to move toward zero waste.
 
Labor will allocate up to $3 million over four years to the Clean Our Oceans Program and work with other government jurisdictions and stakeholders with the ultimate goal of zero waste on our beaches.
 
The Clean Oceans Initiative has been rolling out its education and infrastructure programs with nippers at 10 Surf Lifesaving clubs and a number of Primary Schools. This is a great start that Labor’s Clean Our Oceans Program can build on.
 
Labor’s Clean Our Oceans Program is part of a broader suite of Labor policies that will reduce marine plastics. Labor’s $200 million Urban Rivers and Corridors program will help clean up our local rivers and intercept storm water and plastic waste before it makes it to the ocean. Labor is also developing a comprehensive federal waste policy to ensure federal leadership is restored in reducing and repurposing our plastic waste.
 
Labor knows that the time to act to protect our oceans is critical now more than ever. The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government has put our oceans and marine life under threat by cutting the Marine Park network in half and giving supertrawlers access to the Coral Sea.

It is clear that the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government is willing to damage our land, our rivers, our atmosphere and our oceans in a way that leaves all the hardship, all the clean-up and all the devastation to the next generation.
 
Labor will have further announcements on how we will tackle the issue of ocean plastics in the lead up to the election.
 
SUNDAY, 10 MARCH 2019