Australia news live: Plibersek warns fashion industry over recycling failures; cannabis legalisation inquiry opens | Australia news

Emily Wind

Good morning, and happy Wednesday! Emily Wind here reporting for blog duty – I’ll bring you our rolling coverage today.

If you see anything that needs attention on the blog, you can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.

Let’s get started.

A parliamentary hearing is to examine whether cannabis should be legalised in Australia, AAP reports.

A Senate inquiry will hold its first round of hearings in Brisbane today, looking at the potential legalisation of cannabis for adult recreational use.

The inquiry was prompted by a bill introduced to the upper house in 2023 by Greens senator David Shoebridge, which would allow for the possession of cannabis.

The bill would also set up a national agency that would register cannabis strains and regulate people able to grow the plant, as well as the operation of cannabis cafes.

The first round of hearings will include appearances from the Australian Medical Association, the Australian Lawyers Alliance, drug law reform advocates as well as officials from government departments.

In its submission to the inquiry, the medical peak body hit out at the proposal to legalise recreational use of cannabis but said its regulation for therapeutic use could be improved.

The submission said:

The AMA believes that if cannabis was legalised for recreational purposes, it would indicate to the public that cannabis use is not harmful.

Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform said the decriminalisation of cannabis use could pave the way for better regulation of the drug going forward.

The Department of Home Affairs, which will appear before the inquiry today, said it had multiple concerns with the cannabis proposal.

Amy Remeikis

Environment minister says fashion industry must reduce clothing sent to landfill

Plibersek says that for those who manufacture in Australia, “it means thinking hard about what they can do to create and sell products that have a longer shelf life while still being affordable; to design a product that could be reused, repaired or recycled rather than buried or burned”.

She said it was heartening to see some retailers voluntarily make the change to more sustainable wares but there was more to be done and she would not hesitate to step in and force the issue.

“My jeans can be returned to the shop for repairs. My exercise gear can be returned to the shop for recycling. I have suits from an Australian designer that uses lots of remnant fabrics that would otherwise end up in landfill. And purchases are often packed in recycled paper and cardboard.

“Internationally too, we are seeing more and more affordable brands and retailers using better environmental design and sourcing and taking responsibility for their products when the buyer is done with them.

“Government is not sitting on our hands on this issue. The federal government has put the fashion industry on a watchlist – signalling our strong expectation that industry needed to take action to reduce clothing sent to landfill.”

Australians send about 200,000 tonnes of clothing waste to landfill every year and the rise of fast fashion retailers, who pump out new designs outside the established fashion seasons, has given rise to a “wear and waste” mentality.

The Seamless program is designed to incentivise clothing design which is more durable and recyclable, close the textile and material loop so new fabric is not constantly being created from scratch and help encourage more circular business models.

Plibersek says fashion industry on a ‘watchlist’

Amy Remeikis

Australia’s fashion industry can either voluntarily sign up to reduce its climate impact or be forced to comply through government regulation, with the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, warning the industry is on a “watchlist”.

In June last year, Plibersek gave the sector one year to get on board Seamless, an initiative of the the Australian Fashion Council which aims to create a circular clothing industry by 2030.

While there has been some movement in the past eight months, major retailers are still dragging their heels signing up to the scheme. The initiative imposes a 4c levy on every garment sold, with the money raised going towards funding research into sustainability and to establish textile recycling.

In a speech to eBay on Wednesday morning, Plibersek will reiterate her ultimatum.

“If it’s the fashion industry that makes the profits, then it must be responsible for doing better by the environment,” Plibersek will say.

“That starts with taking responsibility for design. And given that up to 97% of clothing sold in Australia is designed and manufactured overseas, that means importers and retailers must be more accountable for the products they sell and their effects on nature. Are the clothes they sell destined for landfill after a few wears?”

Good morning and welcome to the rolling news blog. I’m Martin Farrer, here to bring you the best overnight and breaking stories before my colleague picks up the baton shortly.

The New South Wales mulch scandal widens again today with our exclusive story revealing that the material at the centre of the crisis has been found to contain building waste as well as asbestos. The state’s environment watchdog says it found the “foreign materials” when testing mulch made by Greenlife Resource Recovery at the Prospect Highway upgrade in Blacktown. Greenlife said it did not use construction waste in its recycled mulch which was made from “separated waste timber products”.

Julian Assange faces the risk of a “flagrant denial of justice” if tried in the US, his lawyers have told a permission to appeal hearing in London, which could result in the WikiLeaks founder extradited within days if unsuccessful. Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Assange, also argued that his Australian client could be targeted by US state agencies for “extra-legal attack elimination” if he was extradited. More coming up.

The world of AFL has been rocked by news that Melbourne Demons player Joel Smith has been accused of trafficking or attempted trafficking of cocaine by Sports Integrity Australia. The utility player, who is already suspended after testing positive for cocaine towards the end of last season, was charged last night with three anti-doping rule violations of the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code. Meanwhile, the GWS Giants have been rebuked by the ACT government for signing a sponsorship deal with Tabcorp, describing the deal as “deeply disappointing” given mounting evidence of gambling-related harm.

And the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has issued a stern warning to the fashion industry to work faster on reducing its environmental impact, saying it’s on a “watchlist” and must sign up to a scheme to create a circular clothing industry by 2030. More on that in a few minutes.