Are you aware that the Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee is currently holding an inquiry into the Register of Environmental Organisations and will hold a public hearing in Sydney later in the year? The inquiry will determine whether organisations will be able to continue to receive tax-deductible donations to advocate for the protection of nature.

The Queensland Government has now established two Advisory Committees to assist in the development of a cash for containers scheme and possible plastic packaging bans. I have been appointed on to both committees. We expect that the State Government will be asking the public what they think about these measures, within the next six months.

Yesterday, Members of the Parliament of NSW from all parties supported a ban on lightweight plastic bags in a parliamentary debate led by MP for Coogee, Bruce Notley-Smith, who presented a petition with 12,472 signatures.

The Boomerang Alliance has disclosed  a leaked excerpt of an internal report to the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) showing misleading plastic packaging recycling rates. The APC is an industry sponsored initiative which has been used by the beverage industry to counteract the push for cash for containers.

The Queensland Government this week announced that they are considering banning plastic bags and other problematic packaging. The decision comes on top of their statement last month that they would investigate a cash for containers scheme for Queensland.

A new report by the Boomerang Alliance and its 32 allied groups, documents Queensland as the most littered state in Australia, with litter rates 40% higher than the national average with only 18% of plastic bottles recycled.

The Queensland government just announced it will “examine what a container deposit scheme (CDS) in the state could look like” and prepare for a public consultation later this year. It also agreed to become an observer to the NSW CDS design process. Given Queensland's growing reputation as the most littered state in Australia, its move is a very necessary step. A 10 cents deposit scheme on bottles and cans would dramatically reduce litter and pollution in the Sunshine state.