Labor MP Jenny Aitchison has called on NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to “appoint an environment minister who is up to the job”, if a Return and Earn vending machine isn’t immediately installed in her Maitland electorate.
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Ms Aitchison’s comments come after she condemned the Berejiklian Government’s roll out of the scheme in a notice of motion to parliament on Wednesday.
“I am calling on the environment minister Gabrielle Upton to immediately ensure that a reverse vending machine is installed in the Maitland electorate. If she is incapable of this, the Premier must intervene and appoint an environment minister who is up to the job,” Ms Aitchison, the shadow minister for small business, said.
Ms Aitchison said the people of Maitland “are paying the price” for a scheme that “has been mismanaged from day one”.
“The people of Maitland are being charged more and more for beverages under this scheme, but the Government has not provided any Return and Earn sites where they could receive compensation,” she said.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald said he talked to the environment minister’s advisers on Thursday and expected a location announcement in the next fortnight.
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