Thursday, 30 November 2023

Northern Victoria Region

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (12:48): (616) My question is to the Minister for Environment on behalf of Aurora and Georgie, who are in grades 5 and 6 at Winters Flat Primary School in Castlemaine. They sent me a letter on behalf of the school about those annoying plastic fruit stickers that end up in compost and take hundreds of years to break down. Students have written articles, won awards and made movies trying to encourage people to collect their fruit stickers on a piece of paper instead of putting them in the compost, but they are finding things still are not changing. New Zealand has banned plastic fruit stickers, and Aurora and Georgie would like Victoria to as well. South Australia is also working towards banning different single-use plastic products in the near future. The students pointed out environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic that could be made edible, recyclable or biodegradable. I spoke with Fruit Growers Victoria, who are keen to explore the options to find a solution. I commend the students at Winters Flat Primary School on their work and ask the minister to help Aurora and Georgie achieve their goal and to work with industry to find a solution to see the end of plastic fruit stickers in Victoria.