ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Coming just a day after banning single-use plastic bags, the Premier of Queensland has told the media this afternoon that the state government will establish a bag buyback scheme to start in 2018.
Annastacia Palaszczuk spoke to reporters briefly today after he the Queensland parliament voted to ban the environmental hazard.
“Today is a red-letter day for the people of Queensland,” said the Premier.
“Many have tried to stop us, many have threatened the government but none have been able to slow the train of progress. To those who still own illegal plastic bags, there is an amnesty that lasts until June 30 next year. Turn in your bags to avoid prosecution,”
“We are once again, ‘The Smart State’, as Peter Beattie once said. We are on the right side of history.”
However, those in the power plastic bag lobby have vowed to fight the decision.
Dennis Coleman, who lists his hobbies on LinkedIn as, ‘shooting dolphins and yelling at his wife in public’, told The Advocate that he and his friends in the plastic industry wouldn’t take this lying down.
“This isn’t over,” said Coleman.
“We’re going to take the fight to Ms Palaszczuk and her socialist government of do-gooders,”
“Has she thought of the men and women who work in the single-use plastic bag industry? Has she thought about their families? The answer to that question is no,”
The saga continues.
More to come.
