Tuesday, 2 December 2025

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (14:01): The Port Phillip EcoCentre have had another great year of positive impact on the community and our local environment. I was reading with delight highlights from their recent annual report showing how they had nearly 15,000 program participants. Ninety-five per cent of those following their participation felt more connected to nature and increased their knowledge of local ecosystems, while 92 per cent plan to take new environmental actions following their participation. The actions they were taking were things like cutting waste, greening their transport, saving water and increasing their home’s energy efficiency, as well as writing to their councillors and MPs, which might keep many of us in this room on our toes. To highlight just a few examples of their work, the eco-centre’s efforts to build a share-and-repair economy have diverted 1.4 tonnes of waste from landfill, while their plastic-free bay projects brought together community groups and volunteers to map plastics and microplastics entering Port Phillip Bay in order to stop them at their source. I congratulate the eco-centre on another fantastic year of important impact on our local environment, and I wish them all the best for the coming year.