Single use plastic bags have been given the green light in NSW Parliament – to the dismay of local MP Janelle Saffin.

During a sitting of Parliament’s Lower House last week, Labor’s bill to ban single use plastic bags was rejected in an en-masse vote by the NSW Liberals and Nationals.

“It was disappointing,” Ms Saffin said. “Instead, the government will release a discussion paper on tackling plastic waste.”

Single-use plastic bags have been banned already in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, NT and Victoria.

And major supermarkets in NSW have already stopped giving out the free single-use plastic bags.

“The Liberals and Nationals had an opportunity to bring NSW into line with every other state and territory across Australia and ban the bag,” Ms Saffin said.

“Instead, they choked. The people and environment of our state have been let down by a Government that doesn’t have the guts to end plastic pollution.”  

This was the third time Labor had tried to get the bill passed.

MP Janelle Saffin.

Ms Saffin said the government was putting party politics before the needs of communities and the environment.

“It’s perplexing - the government is frightened of big businesses and don’t want to vote for the bill because Labor put it forward,” she said.

“Everybody wants to do it - even the Environment Minister said the bags need to be banned but and even spoke in favour of it in the house before they voted.

“If they could act in a bipartisan way and vote for the bill, the public would be happy.

“What’s still to discuss about it? We don’t need a discussion paper. 

“The public and business is leading in saying no to single use plastic bags.

“I know that the majority of locals in the Electorate of Lismore support the ban and have stopped using single-use plastic bags. 

“Local groups, including the Lismore Boomerang Bags, have advocated for this for a long time.

Read more about Lismore Boomerang Bags in The Lismore App story: Free Boomerang Bags are sew sustainable

“My office is doing our bit to support this initiative by gradually phasing out using plastic folders, sleeves and other plastic stationaries.

“The government just needs to get on with it and stop lagging behind.”

Ms Saffin said single use plastic bags are destroying our oceans and rivers, clogging up landfill and killing bird and marine life.

“Australians use more than 4 billion plastic bags every year - 10 million or so each day - and an estimated 50 million of these end up in our waterways and ocean,” she said.

“Thirty per cent of the world’s turtles and 90% of seabird species have now ingested plastic debris.

“By 2050, it is predicted there will be more plastic in the ocean, by weight, than fish.

“Globally this issue has gained momentum, yet this Government has been slow to act.

 “We’ll keep the pressure on about this issue and it will come at some stage - just not this time. 

“It’s up to us to hold them to account. 

“Once the discussion paper comes out, I’ll make sure we do a survey – we know that the response would be clear – ban the bag.

A legislative ban on single use plastic bags is supported by the National Retailers Association as well as NGOs, including the Boomerang Alliance.