Letters to the editor, The Daily Advertiser, December 3

While I can agree with the intent of her quoted words, she is wrong on two counts.

Firstly the Voice is simply what it says: a means for Indigenous individuals or groups to have access to the decision makers (Parliamentarians) on matters concerning their governance, it will not be a separate governing entity as she states.

Secondly Indigenous Australians were, and are, treated by governments corporations and individuals, as second class citizens. This has been the case since the landing of the First Fleet.

It is very gratifying to me to see our First Nations people slowly gaining more recognition and esteem but there is still a long way to go.

The Voice to Parliament enshrined in our Constitution will not only provide a practical way for Indigenous groups and individuals to have their concerns heard, but, just as importantly, it will be an important symbolic elevation of their status as equal citizens of the first order.

The National Party's stance is particularly shameful given that it represents the very constituents who arguably have benefited most from Indigenous dispossession of their land.

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Australia has a waste problem. Take plastic for example. Australians throw away around 179 million empty bottles of shampoo, conditioner and other personal care products each year contributing to 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, or 100kg per person. Of this, 84 per cent is sent to landfill. And this is set to increase with the recent collapse of the soft plastic recycling program, REDcycle.

And food waste is worse. The 2021 National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study found we create 7.6 million tonnes of food waste each year or 312 kg per person. Food waste costs the economy a staggering $36.6 billion per annum and, like plastic, almost all food waste goes to landfill.

Fortunately, some new developments are in the pipeline. Australian company Rtec has discovered a way to recycle soft plastics in a single step. Another Australian company, Zero Co replaces plastic personal care bottles with a set of 'forever' bottles made from ocean, beach and landfill waste, and provides a set of refill pouches made from recycled plastic and a postage-paid return envelope. For food waste, the federal government's food and garden organics collection service operating in about half of Australia's local government councils has the capacity to reduce waste to landfill by 40 per cent.

It seems there are solutions out there. We just need to care enough to seek them out.

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