Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (19:24): (2737) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment, Minister Symes. I call on the minister to ensure the EPA amends the environment reference standard to explicitly include plastics, including microplastics. Plastic pollution is not just a problem in far-off oceans, it is happening in our waterways. From the deepest parts of our ocean to local rivers, creeks and bays, plastic waste and microplastics are accumulating at alarming rates. They are entering marine ecosystems, harming wildlife and threatening the health of environments we all depend on. Plastic pollution is a global problem, and it starts with what we allow to enter our waterways. For more than a decade the Port Phillip EcoCentre and Tangaroa Blue Foundation have been documenting plastic pollution across Melbourne, including plastic resin pellets, or nurdles, escaping from industrial sites and entering our waterways. They can escape industrial sites, wash into stormwater drains and eventually make their way into our waterways and the ocean. Once there, they can be mistaken for food by marine animals and become part of the wider plastic pollution problem. The fact that thousands of nurdles can be found trapped in our stormwater systems should be a wake-up call. Therefore the action I seek is for the minister to progress amendments from this report to better protect Victoria’s waterways from plastic pollution.