Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634762265.pdf (Australia)
Submission - The Threat of Marine Plastic in Australia Dear Secretary, Thank you for the opportunity to provide a submission to this inquiry.
The problems and threats posed by plastic debris, are of such great concern to me that, in August 2014, I commenced a project that was 2 years in the planning, to travel Australia and raise awareness, educate and offer solutions to communities on this very issue (website: http://triviatour.quizwest.no/ Facebook: The Family Trivia Tour - Saving Oceans from Plastic Pollution).
So far I have toured the coast of NSW, parts of Victoria and Queensland, spoke local people, organisations, local and state government ofﬁcials and held over 55 events, some being attended by well over 200 people (check my website under THE TOUR or Facebook page under photo albums).

The problem of plastic debris in our oceans is clear, present and growing at an alarming rate.
There are countless papers and articles written by highly respected scientists, oceanographers, marine biologists (links to many of these can be found of my website or on tangaroablue.org or 5gyres.org) to warrant not only our government but world leaders to act urgently and decisively to address it.

When micro plastic is being ingested by creatures at all levels on the food chain (which we are a part of) from algae and plankton to shellﬁsh, crustaceans, ﬁsh.
whales, turtles, dolphins it is obvious that it is a real threat to humans as well.

Microplastics act as sponges for toxic chemicals which have been found to enter the tissue and bloodstreams of the creatures that consume it and which we then consume.

The fact that in just 65 years we have created 5 huge patches of marine plastic, one of which has recently been estimated to be double the size of NSW is extremely disturbing.
Australian oceanographer Julia Reisser, who was recently out in the north Paciﬁc gyre on a survey stated: “The trawls we did found little marine life, but lots and lots of plastic,” Dr Reisser said.
“I would say that we had hundreds of times more plastic than organisms on our catch.” (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/ rapid-increase-in-paciﬁcs-plastic-rubbish-patch/story-fnb64oi6-1227498498493) On my tour so far, I have covered over 35,000km, have observed the different aspects of this issue in the many communities I’ve visited ie; Threat of marine plastic pollution in AustraliaSubmission 107 * The severity of the problem in different areas and major contributors.
* General awareness and knowledge of the issue * What is currently being done individually and collectively both in communities and by outside individuals and organisations and by governments.

* What needs to be done.

I am currently writing a paper (with collaboration from other actors) on how best to address this issue on a national basis.

This paper will be completed in the next 2 to 3 months.
In the meantime, I’ll be continuing this tour for the foreseeable future holding awareness and educational presentations and events.

Feel free to contact me should you require more information.

Please act promptly.

Our environment and community deserve this.

Yours sincerely, Anthony Hill Threat of marine plastic pollution in AustraliaSubmission 107