00:01This is one of the things that we need to thrash out with every individual state and
00:05when I say thrash out, the negotiations are actually going very constructively at the
00:09moment.
00:10But we do need to make sure that we benchmark different state and territory processes to
00:14make sure that they meet our requirements.
00:17You'd be aware that we now have a national EPA in place from the 1st of July as a result
00:22of our reforms and they will play that independent role of making sure that state and territory
00:27processes meet our requirements, but they will also audit those processes on an ongoing
00:31basis as well.
00:33We know that state and territory governments change from time to time.
00:36We know those governments may change their own laws, but by having that auditing role
00:40there from the EPA, that makes sure that those processes at state and territory levels continue
00:45to comply with our requirements well into the future.
00:48You also discussed bird flu today.
00:51Is there any developments on your strategy around that given we're seeing it wreak havoc
00:57across the country?
00:59Yeah.
01:00I think that it's fair to say that whether you're in government or a member of the community,
01:04there is growing concern about the impacts of bird flu and also growing awareness and
01:08understanding of what this means for our country.
01:11We have been saying in federal government with Julie Collins as the agriculture minister as well
01:15for some time that we are likely to see more mass mortalities when it comes to bird populations
01:21and mammal populations as well.
01:24What we agreed on today was to note the extra funding that the Commonwealth Government has
01:30recently provided to build the resilience of wildlife populations and ensure that they
01:35can withstand an impact from bird flu.
01:38But also it was really pleasing to see some states and territories today agree to make their
01:43own financial contributions.
01:44And of course, we're encouraging all other states and territories to do the same.
01:48You've also shelved recently a commitment to bring in packaging standards intended to
01:53force manufacturers, also retailers to cut plastic waste.
01:57The Federal Environment Department has told industry people that the promise would not be kept
02:04before the next election because the government does not want to exacerbate cost of living pressures.
02:10Does that mean effectively you've broken that promise?
02:14No.
02:14What we're doing is pursuing this in a different way to what we had originally intended, PK.
02:19I think all Australians are concerned about the amount of waste entering creeks, entering
02:25landfill, entering the general environment as litter.
02:28And what we've agreed today is that we do need to keep working on packaging reform as a nation.
02:33This is something that does need the involvement of federal governments, state, territory and local governments,
02:39industries, communities as well.
02:41And I was actually pleased to see that we were able to reach agreement today to work together to harmonise
02:47the rules and regulations that apply to packaging around the country.
02:51We've got this silly situation at the moment where some plastic products are allowed in some states and territories and
02:56not in others.
02:57If we can be harmonising those kind of processes and rules, there's a very good opportunity to eliminate entirely various
03:05types of plastic products.
03:06What we've agreed to work on, for example, is making sure that we've got the same rules in place and
03:11ban a range of products like plastic confetti, which is not necessary when there's other kinds of confetti available, that's
03:18less environmentally damaging.
03:19Some of the polystyrene that we have in those big boxes accompanying TVs and other white goods when they're delivered
03:26to your home.
03:27So what we're really about doing is trying to pursue packaging reform in a different way to what we had
03:32previously considered,
03:33because we do want to make sure that we are making a difference for the environment.
03:37But we're also wanting to make sure that we manage cost impacts of any of these changes on consumers as
03:42well.
03:42Sure, that's a very helpful question.
03:42I know when I was just, what are we talking about?
03:43We're talking about the timing?
03:43We're talking about the timing of what's really nice.
03:44We're talking about the timing of the timing as well.
03:44I know that we're going to be talking about a very nice movie.
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