Students pull petition out of the bag
A 17,877-strong petition calling for a levy on plastic bags has been presented at Parliament.
Launched by a group of students from Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in Wellington, the petition represented the latest show of support for a tax, which has already garnered strong support from local government, the retail sector, and everyday Kiwis.
Labour MP Grant Robertson received the petition, which was handed over yesterday in a number of reusable shopping bags. He will take the petition to Parliament and Associate Environment Minister Scott Simpson.
The petition called for a levy in light of the damage plastic bags caused to the New Zealand environment.
It has recently been revealed plastics were being eaten by most New Zealand fish species. Also, a third of turtles and seabirds that washed up dead on Kiwi beaches were found to have eaten plastic.
A separate open letter calling for a 20c mandatory levy, signed by 96 per cent of the country’s city and district mayors, was sent to Simpson in mid-July.
School group leader Cici Davie said the petition was started in May, and the timing of the presentation was in conjunction with the end of plastic-free July.
‘‘Our biggest goal is just to open people to new perspectives on the issues - especially him (Associate Minister Simpson),’’ Davie said.
‘‘We hope that by presenting this they will see how much support we have gained in such a short amount of time.’’
Simpson has set up a working group in response to the growing calls for a levy, which includes representatives from the packaging industry and New Zealand’s biggest supermarket chains, in order to find an industry-led solution.
He said this would be more costeffective.
He also said it would avoid ‘‘heavy-handed legislation’’.