Австралийн муж улсын засгийн газар жижиг бизнес эрхлэгчдийн эсэргүүцлийн улмаас нэг удаагийн аяганы оронд шилэн эсвэл шаазан аяга хэрэглэхийг шаардсан хуулийн төслөөсөө татгалзахаар болжээ.
Шинэ Өмнөд Уэльсийн засгийн газар кафе, зоогийн газруудад үйлчлүүлэгчдэдээ заавал шилэн эсвэл шаазан аяга санал болгохыг үүрэг болгосон шийдвэрээ эргүүлэн татахаа мэдэгдлээ. Энэхүү хуулийн хүрээнд дахин ашиглах боломжтой аяганы системийг нэвтрүүлээгүй тохиолдолд бизнес эрхлэгчдэд 110,000 хүртэлх ам.долларын торгууль ногдуулахаар төлөвлөж байсан юм. Хэдийгээр хууль парламент батлагдсан боловч жижиг бизнес эрхлэгчид болон хэвлэл мэдээллийн хэрэгслүүдийн зүгээс хүчтэй эсэргүүцэлтэй тулгарчээ.
Мужийн Байгаль орчны сайд Пенни Шарп жижиг бизнесүүдийн үйл ажиллагаанд дарамт учруулахгүйн тулд ийм шийдвэр гаргаснаа тайлбарлав. Засгийн газар нь хуванцар хог хаягдлыг бууруулах зорилт тавьж буй ч үйлчлүүлэгчдийн өөрийн аягыг хүлээн авах, 2028 он гэхэд нэг удаагийн аягыг дахин боловсруулах боломжтой болгох зэрэг бусад шаардлагууд хэвээр үлдэх юм.
Сөрөг хүчний зүгээс уг хуулийг бизнес эрхлэгчдийн үйл ажиллагааг боомилсон зохицуулалт гэж шүүмжилж байсан бол Ногоон намын төлөөлөгчид засгийн газрыг байгаль орчны бодлогоосоо ухарлаа хэмээн буруутгав. Ерөнхий сайд Крис Миннсийн засгийн газар өмнө нь төмөр замын цагийн хуваарьтай холбоотой шийдвэрээ ч мөн эсэргүүцлийн улмаас өөрчилж байсан удаатай. Одоогийн байдлаар уг хуулийг 2027 оны гуравдугаар сарын сонгуулийн дараа албан ёсоор хүчингүй болгохоор төлөвлөж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
The New South Wales government has backflipped on its plan to force cafes to offer customers who dine in the option of mugs and glasses instead of takeaway cups.
Chris Minns’ government will also ditch a law that would have required businesses to participate in a reusable cup scheme or risk a fine up to $110,000.
Labor reversed its position a week after the legislation passed parliament, following a backlash from small businesses and News Corp Australia.
The reforms were part of the Minns government’s wider plan to reduce plastic waste given Sydney’s landfill is projected to run out by 2030.
The laws to be axed would have made it a requirement for cafes to offer mugs or glasses when customers dined in from 2028.
The NSW environment minister, Penny Sharpe, told 2GB radio on Wednesday morning that the government would repeal the laws relating to mugs and glasses and the potential $110,000 fine.
“We know small businesses are under pressure and we want them to be able to operate in the way that they need to operate, to run their business,” she said.
“It was always the plan that there would be extensive exemptions.”
Separate reforms requiring businesses to accept customers’ own reusable cups – so long as they are “clean” – will remain in place. So too will a law requiring single-use takeaway cups to be recyclable by 2028.
The Daily Telegraph ran a front page last week with the headline “‘Nup’ to the Cup”. There were multiple stories with small business owners criticising the cost of participating in the reusable cup scheme.
When the legislation passed, the government said reusable cup schemes would “not be mandatory for small businesses”. Trials would be run at government-owned venues including stadiums and office buildings, it said.
The premier, Chris Minns, defended the legislation in an interview on 2GB on Tuesday, stating the government was “not getting rid of disposable cups anywhere in any place”.
“I use disposable cups, most people use disposable cups,” he said. “I don’t know whether we’ve done a good enough job of explaining the policy.”
But on Wednesday, Sharpe said she had spoken with Minns.
“We said: ‘Look, do we need to mandate this?’ Sharpe said. “No, we don’t, and that’s why it’s really important that we need to clear this up.”
Sharpe has asked the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to issue a “statement of regulatory intent” to make clear the government was not progressing with certain changes.
The legislation won’t be repealed until after the March 2027 election. Only two sitting weeks remain before parliament is dissolved.
On Tuesday, the opposition had said if elected next year it would repeal the laws which it claimed “add another layer of regulation that is suffocating NSW businesses”.
‘Labor has an aversion to real change’
The NSW Greens environment spokesperson, Sue Higginson, criticised the premier’s “coffee cup captain’s call”.
She said it was “a sad day for the Minns Labor government when the Daily Telegraph has more sway on decisions that impact on our environment than the environment minister and the parliament of NSW”.
“I don’t think a single voter in NSW would baulk at being asked to use a mug or a glass if they aren’t taking away their coffee, and it’s alarming that NSW Labor have capitulated on yet another environmental commitment.”
The director of the Boomerang Alliance, Jeff Angel, said the NSW backdown came after the federal government shelved a longstanding commitment to introduce packaging standards intended to cut plastic waste.
“Now the Minns government caves on reusable cups, one of the best ways to reduce plastic in the environment,” Angel said on Wednesday. “It seems Labor has an aversion to actually making real change.”
Minns, Sharpe and News Corp Australia were contacted for comment.
Labor is under pressure from the Coalition and One Nation. Both are running pro-small business platforms and pledging significant cuts to payroll tax.
One Nation has said it would cut the tax employers pay on wages by half, slashing it completely in regional areas.
Last week, Minns backed down from implementing changes to several local and regional rail line timetables following a backlash from commuters.
A Guardian Essential conducted last week suggested Labor and One Nation were neck and neck on 28% of the primary vote nationwide with the Coalition on 23%.
Minns told 2GB on Tuesday that “by any poll, by any measure”, NSW’s One Nation leader, Mike Newman, would be premier or opposition leader following the March poll.
The premier has called on One Nation to cost its election policies through the NSW budget office but Newman has refused to commit the party to this.
