AFTER THE VIRUS - IN S.E.QUEENSLAND

GUEST: Rob Brodribb, President of Friends of Escarpment Parks

 Introduction to this episode:

Globally, over the last 40 – 50 years, there have been massive declines and loss of wildlife, forests, and the other natural areas in which species live. In Australia, these trends have also been strongly pronounced with large areas of natural woodland being cleared, and much wildlife and natural places either being threatened with extinction or already having gone extinct. The recent 2019/2020, catastrophic bushfires in this country have greatly worsened these trends, with estimations of billions of individual animals and plants having been destroyed.

It is in this context that protection and restoration of bushland in or close to suburban areas becomes very important within an overall goal of increasing the area and environmental health of natural places and the wildlife they contain. In this episode of the 'After the Virus' series my guest is Rob Brodribb, President of the Friends of Escarpment Parks (Toowoomba) Inc or FoEP. The ‘Friends’ are a non-profit community group interested in the management, maintenance, development and public use of a number of bushland parks that straddle the escarpment of the Toowoomba range area of S.E. Queensland. I talk with Rob about the current work of the Friends and ask him for his vision of how suburban bushland protection and conservation might evolve in this area in the future.

INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS – location with approximate time elapsed in minutes

• Guest self-introduction – 3.49

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION

• Friends of Escarpment Parks

 GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:

Guest: Rob Brodribb, President of Friends of Escarpment Parks E: [email protected]

WEBSITE  Facebook,

Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

T 07 4639 2135 E [email protected]                                              W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/     https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/

Production:

Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 28th April 2021

Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel  Incidental Music: James Nicholson

GUEST: Megan O’Hara Sullivan - Councillor and Chair of the Planning and Development Committee at Toowoomba Regional Council

Introduction to this episode:

Against a background of overall diminishing levels of public trust in governments in Australia overall, local government has retained one of the highest levels of public confidence in its operations, and in its ability to help maintain the conditions which contribute to the health, wellbeing, and prosperity of its citizens. And if we do want to achieve a more climate safe, ecologically healthier, and socially fairer society in this S.E. Queensland region, working on this throughout the pandemic and ‘After the Virus’, then local government has an important part to play.

It is for these reasons that HOPE Australia wanted to include a representative from local government in the podcast series - to get their perspective on what their administration has accomplished to date in some of the areas relevant to the possibility of creating a climate positive, built forward better, COVID-19 recovery in S.E. Queensland. And to hear what their vision is for progress on these topics within the region over the short to mid-term future. My guest on this podcast episode is Megan O’Hara Sullivan a local citizen, elected councillor and Chair of the Planning and Development Committee within Toowoomba Regional Council.

Megan talks with me about some of the current initiatives Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) is implementing to make its administrative area more sustainable. And, in the light of a nation-wide upsurge in anger and dismay expressed over the continued disrespect, assaultive, and discriminatory experience of many Australian women, Megan offers her personal views on some possible ways forward for this crucial social justice and human rights issue in the S.E. Qld region.

INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS - approximate time elapsed in minutes.

• General introduction - 1.08

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION

• Toowoomba Regional Council – Green Infrastructure Strategy

 GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:

Guest: Megan O’Hara Sullivan E: [email protected]

Toowoomba Regional Council – Planning and Development Committee

Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

T 07 4639 2135 E [email protected] W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/

F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/

Production:

Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on March 30th, 2021.

Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel Incidental Music: James Nicholson

GUEST: Verity Morgan-Schmidt – farmer and former (founding) CEO of Farmers for Climate Action

 Verity started life as a farm girl in the sheep and wheat country of Western Australia. In a career that has thus far spanned remote shearing sheds, auction rooms, media conferences and Parliament House, Verity has worked in both the corporate world and agricultural advocacy: rallying farmers and rural communities to make their voices heard on a wide range of issues; including climate change. Verity holds a Master of Arts (Politics) in Sustainability and is committed to collaborations to deliver climate change solutions both behind and beyond the farm gate. Verity, her husband and three small daughters currently farm beef and meat goats in S.E. Queensland’s beautiful Mary Valley.

 INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE:

My guest in this podcast episode is Verity Morgan-Schmidt the former (and founding) CEO of the not-for profit, Farmers for Climate Action organisation. Verity, her husband and three small daughters currently farm beef and meat goats in Queensland’s beautiful Mary Valley.

Verity believes that  rural and regional Australia stands at a crossroads. With clear natural advantages, a history of world-class research and innovation, and talented people, the country has a once in a generation opportunity to build a future of resilience and sustainable growth. But she also points out that these opportunities cannot be realised by accident. She thinks that Australia in 2021 is staring down the barrel of critical challenges which can be ameliorated – but only if we act now. 

In this interview, Verity describes some  of those challenges, particularly as they affect the agricultural sector. She talks across many topics, including climate change, and the increasing risk of more extreme weather events, the efficiency of nitrogen-use in production systems, food losses and waste and - the erosion of connections between the rural and urban sector. Importantly, she also offers a range of solutions building to a pragmatic vision to help develop a resilient, climate smart agriculture sector in this country and region, starting now.

SUMMARY OF MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS:

• Verity’s personal and professional background as it has shaped her views on climate smart agriculture.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN OR SUPPORTIVE OF THE DISCUSSION:

• ABARE estimates of climate change impacts on farm production value over the past 20 years.

VERITY’S PRINCIPLES FOR INDIVIDUAL ACTION TO ACHIEVE CHANGE:

1. Own the space. Whether you’re a stay at home Mum, a retired farmer, or a passionate gardener - start by realising that your voice does matter. Even if you feel inadequate and even if you live in a safe seat. Don’t allow your power to be taken away from you.

 GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:

Guest: Verity Morgan-Schmidt  

 Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

T 07 4639 2135  E [email protected]  WEB  FACEBOOK

Production:

Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 18th February 2021

Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel    Incidental Music: James Nicholson

GUEST: Revel Pointon - public interest environmental lawyer with the Environmental Defenders Office.

Introduction to this episode:

Environmental law, as a systematic form of legal practice, with an overarching objective of providing protection to the environment emerged in the first great wave of public concern about human impacts on the natural world in the 1960’s.Since then, it has developed into a broad range of legal interests, applied from local to global level: from monitoring the application of enacted environmental protection legislation in specific areas, to a push for more radical and systemic uses of legal protections for the environment, embodied in concepts such as Earth jurisprudence, and the creation of strong, international criminal sanctions against irresponsible environmental damage or ‘Ecocide’.

In Australia, there is a growing consensus that existing federal and state level environmental legal protections, as they are currently written and implemented, are mostly inadequate; that they have not factored growing climate change impacts into their frameworks, and have not helped stop a serious level of native species loss and habitat destruction over the last twenty years or so. This national failure, to adequately address climate change control and biodiversity loss, has serious repercussions for the future health and wellbeing of humans and other species, on this continent and across the wider world.

The Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) as described on its website, is the largest environmental legal centre in the Australia-Pacific, dedicated to protecting the ‘climate, communities and shared environment by providing access to justice, running ground-breaking litigation and leading law reform advocacy.’

The EDO is ‘an accredited community legal service and a non-government, not-for-profit organisation that uses the law to protect and defend Australia’s wildlife, people and places.’ 

Some talking points for this episode

• Revel’s background and how she developed her interest in environmental law.

The current situation

• The crucial role of governance within environmental law, and its importance in helping avoid 'regulatory capture'.

Looking to the future

• The inspiring examples of citizen juries and assemblies convened on climate change and other key environmental matters in other parts of the world.

Guest and other contact details:

Guest: Revel Pointon

Managing Lawyer of the Southern and Central Queensland office of the Environmental Defenders Office

Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

T  07 4639 2135  E [email protected]       W    F

Production: researched and produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on Wednesday 3rd March 2021.

Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel   Incidental Music: James Nicholson

GUEST: Don Carlson – community owned renewable energy advocate and member of Renew (Toowoomba)

INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE:

Robust studies now conclude it is feasible to have a future in which our community power needs can be met from renewable energy sources. My guest on this episode of the After the Virus podcast, Don Carlson, believes there is real momentum for embracing this change, but worries that much of the current response is piecemeal and not necessarily focussed on the most efficient and cost-effective path to achieving that preferred future.

Don thinks that the quickest and most equitable way to speed the adoption of sustainable energy is to demonstrate that it can be both cheaper and reliable. He talks about his ideas for one possible way to achieve this demonstration: through setting up a proof of concept, community based sustainable energy hub. Such a project can gather valuable evaluative data on the optimum mix of renewable energy services, the pricing of those services, and consumer behavioural response to services. This evaluative hub would be connected to the wider electricity grid, but set up with the objective of showing that grid interactions with it could be made as limited and predictable as possible. The hub concept represents a potential compromise, between more purist arguments for grid or off-grid solutions to achieve greater community renewable energy adoption in the future.

Nationally, in Australia, the hub concept has already been trialled in Victoria and a few other locations. It is now time to see it implemented in South East Queensland.

SUMMARY OF MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS:

• The need for a realistic economic appraisal of the rapidly expanding renewable energy strategies open to communities.

REFERENCES ASSOCIATED WITH POINTS MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION:

• Electric vehicles and their potential to work with smart grids in Australia

CONTACT DETAILS:

Guest: Don Carlson - Renew (Toowoomba Branch) on Facebook 

Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

T  07 4639 2135  E [email protected]       W    F

PRODUCTION:

Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 18th February 2021

Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel    Incidental Music: James Nicholson

GUEST: Rick Humphries, organic grower and sustainable land management advocate

Rick lives on a 100-acre farm south-west of Stanthorpe on S.E. QLD’s Granite Belt with his wife Mary, where they are returning their block to a productive small organic holding while protecting its rich biodiversity. Rick talks about ways in which the population of the Granite Belt area can be better engaged on the need for more widespread adoption of sustainability practices in a climatically changing world.

Introduction to this episode:

The Granite Belt area of S.E. Queensland is the most southerly in the region. Centrered around the small town of Stanthorpe it is an important agricultural production area, with unique geographic, geological and water catchment features. In recent years the area has been increasingly impacted by the climate change influenced factors of reduced water availability and growing bushfire risk.

Across parts of S.E. Qld today, many commentators recognise there are problems of reduced water availability caused by long term sporadic and reducing rainfall trends, and consequent reduced catchment inflows. This problem is particularly acute on the Granite Belt due to its higher altitude and head of catchment location. At present, there appears to be no obvious innovative answers to the water availability issue in this area; and climate change impacts do not seem to be featuring in present water security assessments.

Traditional, business-as usual-approaches are in play, however – e.g., proposals to build another (bigger) dam to supply growers, or another pipeline to bring water from more secure catchments. And in the meanwhile, there has been strong competition for limited, existing water supplies – threatening the agricultural productivity of the area, and potentially exacerbating other community security threats linked to climate change – e.g. from bushfire.

Selected Talking Points from this episode

• The guest personal experience of six years farming in the Granite Belt area – with the three most recent of those in record breaking drought. The 2019 drought being a particular wake up call for this area.

Guest and other contact details:

Guest: Rick Humphries, Convenor: Granite Belt Sustainable Action Network  e: [email protected] |

p:+61 (0)7 4683 5166  m: 0488 491 709

Granite Belt Sustainable Action Network (GBSAN)

(GBSAN – Web)  F https://www.facebook.com/GraniteBeltSAN/

 Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

T 07 4639 2135 E [email protected]                                            W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ 

F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/

Production:

Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on November 13th, 2020.

Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel      Incidental Music: James Nicholson

GUEST: Dr. Amanda Cahill CEO of The Next Economy not for profit organisation

Introduction to this episode:

At the time of recording of this episode, in early November 2020, the international debate and research on the opportunity to create a simultaneous COVID-19 and 'climate positive' recovery was gathering pace.

New research work from a British, German and American collaboration, published in the Journal Science, pointed to the excellent economic leverage that could be achieved by spending relatively small amounts of COVID-19 recovery monies to achieve a well- targeted, simultaneous acceleration of the urgently needed transition to a low carbon future.

To use the language of the researchers: their new analysis showed that an ambitious path to a 1.5°C world (that is, one of the global climate temperature safety boundaries outlined in the 2015 Paris Climate accords). That boundary is well within reach-  if just a fraction of COVID-19 funding is invested in a ‘climate-positive’ recovery, with the dual aims of stimulating the global economy and accelerating the deployment of low-carbon energy supply and energy efficiency measures. This could be achieved, for example, via direct stimulus and investments as well as via supporting policies such as incentives and rebates.

In Australia, on the long term, deficit side of the cost-benefit equation of taking effective climate change action, a report by the influential Deloitte Access Economics consultancy pointed to the massive economic hit that the Australian national economy would experience if it did not greatly increase its ambition on climate change control measures.

The Deloitte report – A new choice: Australia’s climate for growth, modelled the impacts on Australians of not addressing the existential threat of climate change. It reconfirmed the findings of earlier, international research by the likes of economist Nicholas Stern in the UK, that doing nothing, realistically, on climate change, and by not taking climate change science advice seriously enough, will come with huge economic costs. The three key take home messages of the Deloitte report are that

• Today, more than 30% of employed Australians and over 30% of national income sit in industries exposed to economic disruption and risk from climate change and unplanned economic transition

A similar theme: one which emphasises the considerable twin benefits that a low carbon economic transition could help achieve, by tackling climate change effectively at the same time that it develops and expands innovative, climate friendly new opportunities for job creation over coming decades – and the far greater economic losses which will be experienced if we do not, have also helped set the context for a raft of other, well-researched Australian national reports produced in 2020 by the likes of Beyond Zero Emissions, the Climate Council and ClimateWorks. These reports have all pointed to the great potential to create tens to hundreds of thousands of low carbon economy jobs nationally over coming years.

In the state of Queensland, another forward looking document, exploring the potential for economic innovation and associated job creation across a diverse range of economic sectors, is the What Queensland Wants report, published by The Next Economy organisation in August 2020. One of the key contributors to that report was Dr Amanda Cahill, the guest interviewed on this episode of the After the Virus podcast series.

 SELECTED SUMMARY OF TALKING POINTS

The background to preparing The Next Economy’s ‘What Queensland Wants’ report:

• The rapidly changing economic and political backdrop to economic stimulus approaches pre and post COVID-19 in Queensland.

Some implications for the S.E. Queensland region

• There is already a large installed renewable energy capacity in the region – with further stimulus planned, for example, through implementation of the Southern Renewable Energy Zone covering this region, and the possibility of associated renewable energy precincts. The opportunities for new low carbon industries and associated job creation which could follow from this – for example to power the increasing demand for cloud storage data hubs.

The future of the low carbon economic transition in S.E. Queensland

• As with the rest of the state – all of the initiatives mentioned in the podcast discussion and in the ‘What Queensland Wants’ report are already in play, either as strategic policy, plans or designated initiatives.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION

The Next Economy report: What Queensland Wants  published August 2020

Deloitte Access Economics report – A new choice: Australia’s climate for growth published November 2020

GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:

Guest: Dr. Amanda Cahill, CEO of  The Next Economy

W http://nexteconomy.com.au/

Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

T 07 4639 2135 E [email protected] W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/

F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/

PRODUCTION:

Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on November 4th, 2020.

Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel       Incidental Music: James Nicholson

GUEST: Paul McDonald, Chief Executive of Southern Queensland Landscapes.

Introduction to this episode:

The debate on how to speed up the urgently needed transition toward a more ecologically healthy, socially fair and economically prosperous society has thrown up a number of important questions. One of these asks: how we can engage and mobilise the wider community to support ambitious, progressive reforms to our economic, social and environmental policies and strategies, reforms which will enable a sustainable and resilient local, regional and national society to emerge? Such public engagement, when directed to help regional communities better manage, conserve and steward their landscapes and natural environments is part of the long-established practice of natural resource management or NRM.

And within NRM itself, the process of public and community outreach, education and motivation to achieve ecologically sustainable natural resource management is encapsulated in the term ‘extension’ which, in this special use of the word, refers to ‘a process of enabling change in individuals, communities and industries involved with primary industries and natural resource management.’

My guest today on the After the Virus podcast, is Paul McDonald, Chief Executive of Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQL). Paul overseas an organisation which uses NRM extension frequently and in diverse ways to achieve its community engagement objectives. In this interview, he describes his organisation’s approach to work: with land managers, in dialogue with groups which straddle the city-country divide, and in strategic conversations with stakeholders about weather and climate change trends, conducted in ways that do not polarise audiences.

Paul concludes the interview by offering a vision for what Southern Queensland Landscapes aims to achieve over the next couple of years and describes some of the intermediate steps which will help achieve the objectives of  ‘helping landholders understand their landscapes, adapt to challenges and be excellent stewards of their country.’

SELECTED SUMMARY OF TALKING POINTS

Some core principles of SQL’s work:

The importance of working in balanced ways with  diverse groups of land management stakeholders - always with a prime focus on landscapes.   

The importance of an evidenced-based approach to helping stakeholders with their management objectives, and their profitability whilst making a living and taking care of their waterways, biodiversity and soil. 

A brief history of NRM extension models: - what works?

A brief overview of the history of natural resource management (NRM) extension in community engagement and how new research on extension methods has enabled SQL to bring evidence-based approaches to refine traditional extension models, and hence produce more effective engagement with the communities it works with.

The movement toward a learner directed model within NRM extension processes – now sourcing the best knowledge content available nationally for learner requested topics and distributing such content to learners via digital technology.

SQL intellectual networking to enhance knowledge transfer

Best practice knowledge transfer assisted through adjunct/intellectual partnerships between SQL and national and regional universities such as University of Queensland, University of Southern Queensland and Sunshine Coast University. The key goal is to develop evidence-based research to assist practical knowledge transfer to regional communities.

The urban-rural divide – the need for more realistic cultural perceptions

The ways in which SQL approaches the urban-rural divide in its NRM work. The need to work in balanced ways with sometimes romanticised or mistrustful perspectives on either side of that divide. The consequent need for more realistic and evidence-based, cross-cultural perceptions in both rural and urban cultures - but particularly in the latter.

The undervaluation of agricultural food production as an ultimate driver of under resourcing in rural areas. The value of developing informal narratives to educate urban populations on the true cost of producing food in the rural sector. For example, educative information on food production costs placed in supermarkets.

Climate Change – principles of successful engagement

Successful engagement by SQL with conservative communities on issues related to climate change – and drawing upon scientific facts such as historic annualised reduction in rainfall trends. The growing interest amongst land managers to hear from First Nations long experience in dealing with past droughts and climatic disturbance.

Tapping into the direct observational experience of people on the land and waiting for them to make a request for educational advice on climate change impacts and how they might be mitigated. Offering practical and expert advice tailored to the particular circumstances of each land managers specific problems and needs.

A future vision for SQL’s work – its five-year mission

The future SQL vision of ‘flourishing landscapes’ and future five-year mission within SQL’s Strategic Plan 2019 – 2024 - to connect and support communities to take care of their landscapes. The goals for the next five years.

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION

Applied research on the cultural and psychological factors involved in successful stakeholder engagement - by Strachan and others.

The Australian Grains Research and Development Organisation – findings on working with different interest groups through the development of trust and shared values.

First Nations collaborative partnerships with Goondiwindi Regional Council and the growing appreciation of the value of Indigenous cultural burning practices in land management.

First Nations experience and aboriginal science related to land management as encapsulated in the book Treading Lightly (2006) by Sveiby and Skuthorpe

GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:

Guest:

Paul McDonald, Chief Executive of Southern Queensland Landscapes:

Southern Queensland Landscapes 266 Margaret Street, Toowoomba Qld 4350

P 07 4620 0101 | M 0419 723 635 E [email protected]

Visit our WEBSITE or CONNECT WITH US on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.

 Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

T 07 4639 2135 E [email protected] W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/

F:https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/

Production:

Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on October 6th, 2020.

Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel  Incidental Music: James Nicholson

GUEST: Ian Whan - retired resource economist and community campaigner

Introduction to this episode:

At the local level in S.E. Queensland most roadside litter in rural areas originates from passing vehicles. It looks bad, shows a lack of respect for the sensibilities of other road users and damages the environment. To compound the problem, no one is currently vested with responsibility for picking up roadside litter - and doing a clean up on the side of main roads is a risky and difficult undertaking.

At a bigger picture level these concerns link to acknowledgement that we must do better in controlling waste generally if we are to move to a more sustainable society, post COVID-19 and beyond. In that respect, Queensland’s new waste management and recycling plan for 2019 – 2022 provides a framework for the state to become a zero waste society, for example, by finding ways to reduce waste volumes overall, gaining more value from recovered materials, and only disposing of materials when no beneficial use remains in them. This plan envisages the opportunity to create jobs and economic prosperity whilst tackling the wider waste problem.

In this episode, our guest Ian Whan discusses some aspects of this very local problem - and its links to the regional and national challenge to achieve better control and utilisation of waste, both in terms of a post COVID-19 recovery response and as part of a longer term move to a prosperous, low carbon, circular economy.

Episode notes

Local government could have a role to play here by placing more public bins at strategic hotspots and discouraging the roadside dumping of used tyres. Such approaches might be also bolstered by a new approach to increased recycling of waste from local tip sites. For example, by the use of old and used tyres to make road coatings and other raw materials  and in support for further research on the manufacture of steel where shredded tyres can replace coking coal.

In terms of a COVID-19 recovery economic stimulus to deal with long-term environmental problems a workforce could be created to deal with the roadside litter problem. The need to create new jobs for future waste reduction and control initiatives has already been implied in recent Queensland state government waste management, resource recovery and plastic pollution reduction plans. These plans now require rapid implementation – and bipartisan political support to ensure their continuation for the long term.

Behavioural and psychological change amongst citizens to support such initiatives needs to be in the mix. At a community level, this links to a recurring theme throughout this podcast series – of stimulating debate on the type of society we want post COVID-19.  In terms of waste control we also need to help promote a bigger picture responsible citizen and planetary stewardship mindset, where the average citizen rejects the notion of waste, seen as a necessary evil of consumer culture – and  adopts the idea that waste can be viewed as an economic opportunity, as a source of raw materials for diverse sectors  of the economy. Rather than something simply to be thrown out of the window.

And perhaps behavioural economics and so-called ‘nudge theory’ might also help here. For example, the use of price signaling to support recycling by the consumer, in the form of container deposit schemes or single use plastic taxes to discourage consumption or to  subsidise a switch to replace standard plastic with biodegradable packaging.

Who should take overall responsibility for the litter reduction and waste management problem?

Perhaps we need a whole of community response, but it is heartening to note that the Queensland state government has shown a lead here and has produced a number of recent and relevant strategies and policies. It is to be hoped that these will gain active implementation over the next couple of years and that they will receive bipartisan political support in the state.

A bigger picture link between problems of litter/ waste reduction and climate change?

A lot of litter comes from single use plastic and this will have to be tackled at a national and international level if the local and regional problem of litter is to be curbed effectively. There is reporting that major oil companies are increasingly switching their business models from fossil fuel production to using oil as a feedstock for greatly increased plastic production. In a world of ever-increasing volumes of plastic, will any strategy for waste control be effective without imposing  controls on the supply of the ultimately polluting raw material (single use plastic) in the first place?

Guest and other contact details:

Guest:

Ian Whan, from the Felton Valley near Toowoomba,

 Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

Tel: 07 4639 2135

Email: [email protected] 

Web: http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/

Production:

Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on September 29th, 2020.

Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel    Incidental Music: James Nicholson