Boags Brewery
Mr Speaker, I rise to make a short contribution on the bill that is before the House this afternoon.
My fellow member, the member for Franklin, who commented about our visit to one of Tasmania's iconic businesses, Boags Brewery, has taken some of the contributions that I would have liked to make.
If I reflect back on one of my earliest moments in public life when I was first elected to the City of Launceston, we were considering whether we would implement kerb-side recycling. The conversation then was about container deposit schemes nationally. I remember having robust conversations within our council and with community about what is the best way to manage materials in the community and whether implementing our kerb-side recycling is better, or advocating to be part of a national scheme, the right decision. Back over the last 20 years this has been a conversation that has been front of mind, where we think about waste management, material recovery; where we think about the impacts of materials in our environment and where we look at reducing litter and increasing the rates of recycling. It is something I have been familiar with for a long time.
As a proud resident of Launceston I have been mindful of the contribution that businesses like Boags Brewery make to our community and the importance of us, and particularly me as their Shadow Minister for Small Business, to consider always the decisions that we make and the impacts that it has on the viability of these traditional, long held iconic businesses in Tasmania. There is no doubt Tasmanian Labor, and I personally, support the introduction of container deposit scheme to Tasmania. The question is, what is the right scheme and what will make the greatest impact to the Tasmanian environment and the Tasmanian economy?
What will support Tasmanian businesses and also what will support Tasmanians and Tasmanian families? What is going to provide for the greatest recovery of resource and what is going to provide for the greatest opportunity for jobs and for return to our community? There has been talk about a range of submissions, both positive and concerning in regards to the Government's position on this.
It is important for all those matters to be considered to ensure that, as many members have said, the decision we take now and which will be implemented for the long term, given the significant investment and the logistics of actually implementing, have been fully considered and will be implemented to support Tasmanians and Tasmania in the best way possible.
I rise this afternoon to support that we should implement a scheme but have strong regard for and concern about many matters that have been raised in the submissions.
I do not feel that the Government's position on the scheme they are suggesting recognises the greatest opportunity for material recovery. I do not think it provides the greatest opportunity for jobs within Tasmania or the greatest opportunities for the outcomes of our community.
As the member for Bass, completely committed to the businesses in our area, I am concerned for, in particular the iconic businesses like Boags Brewery in Launceston, that any fundamental shift in the financial viability of their operations poses risks for people in Launceston who are doing traditional jobs. Those jobs are really important and provide a sense of pride for our locals and an opportunity for people employed there, and continue to deliver right in the heart of the city, a great industrial operation that we can all see and understand.
When we are considering this, it needs to be considered on all ways. There is no doubt that a container deposit scheme needs to be implemented. There are concerns with the model that the Government is representing and I think it needs to be fully interrogated.
November 10, 2021 - 6:32pm
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