We can have democracy without the plastic waste
They say the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. In Australia, it seems the price of democracy is tonnes of plastic rubbish that is not eternal but may as well be.
I'm talking about corflutes, those ubiquitous signs featuring beaming politicians and wannabes that dominate our suburbs and towns during elections.
A rough and ready estimate suggests that a federal election generates at least a million of these signs – and it is becoming a problem.
My numbers are based on intel from a Sydney printer who worked for two candidates in the recent federal election and asked to remain anonymous. He shared that each campaign ordered 2000 corflutes apiece.
Now, some candidates might use more, and others less. But if five candidates in 140 seats – which excludes the 10 South Australian seats where public election signage is now banned – order, say, 1500 corflutes each, that is more than a million.
The signs are fully recyclable, but that doesn't mean they are fully recycled. In fact, they're already turning up in landfill.
This masthead has obtained a photo of a truck emblazoned with the livery of Liberal candidate James Brown dumping his corflutes at a Sydney tip. Brown ran unsuccessfully against teal independent Sophie Scamps.
A spokesperson for the NSW Liberals said the party ran a recycling campaign and candidates were supplied with information after the election. A spokesperson for the Brown campaign said they followed the advice of their local waste facility.
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