CUTTING power costs and cleaning up the marine environment are on the agenda of the Mornington Peninsula branch of the Australian Greens.
“So many residents on the peninsula are struggling to make ends meet with increased power prices,” co-convenor of the peninsula branch Paul Saunders said after a public meeting at Dromana Community Hall on Saturday (7 October).
“It was refreshing to hear [MP for Melbourne] Adam [Bandt] speak about the future vision of the Greens to solve this crisis through decreasing costs by using an effective mix of renewables and storage.”
About 60 people were at the meeting to hear and meet Mr Bandt and [state Upper House MP] Nina Springle speak about the impacts of plastics on the marine environment and how the current energy mix affects power prices.
“The issue of single-use plastic bags and microbeads entering our bay and water systems is a serious issue with many community groups now hosting regular clean-up days,” co-convenor Kelvin Stingel said.
“During the question and answer session residents asked Nina Springle about options to reduce plastic usage from doggie-bag alternatives to biodegradable plastics.
“Legislation to ban single-use plastic bags will be debated in parliament on 18 October.
“It’s encouraging to see the community are very interested in these matters and we will work with them to reduce the impacts of plastic into our bay and coastline.”
First published in the Mornington News – 17 October 2017
