Today, Boomerang Alliance was at the annual NSW State of the State where Premier Gladys Berejiklian was the key note speaker. We decided to sneak into the conference room.

We used that opportunity to covertly place campaign material calling for a ban on plastic bags on each table and an activist deployed a banner in front of the 650 guests high profile guests and the Premier herself.

The Premier response was again that she does not need to pass a law (even though almost all states have or will be) because of voluntary action by some key retailers.

Millions of bags will still enter the environment. Every turtle, whale and bird that is harmed or killed by this litter will lay at the Berejiklian’s government’s door.

With the National Retailers Association joining environment groups and councils in support of a comprehensive plastic bag ban law in NSW – Gladys Berejiklian‘s position, is a massive failure of political judgement and a serious threat to the marine environment.

Environment Ministers meet tomorrow on 28 July – will NSW be the remaining obstacle to national coverage by bag ban laws?

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.

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.