The Canberra Liberals are today calling on the Labor-Greens Government to continue collecting general waste weekly, in addition to a Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection.

Shadow Minister for City Services Nicole Lawder said that even though there is broad support for recycling initiatives, Canberrans are frustrated that basic services like weekly rubbish collection are being scrapped.

“Canberrans pay some of the highest rates in Australia, yet Labor and the Greens are reducing bin collections to once a fortnight.

“People living with a disability, Canberrans with infants and big families will be hugely disadvantaged by bins only being collected fortnightly.

“It isn’t safe for residents to be stockpiling things such as medical waste and the government shouldn’t be forcing this problem onto vulnerable Canberrans.

“This isn’t about improving service delivery, it’s a cheap cost saving measure. If the Labor-Greens Government is genuine about improving the FOGO scheme, it should be open to making necessary changes.

“Canberrans are natural recyclers. That’s why we’re calling for an opt-out arrangement, so that residents can continue to have weekly rubbish collection unless they choose not to.

“The Labor-Greens Government has taken a lazy approach to FOGO pilot. Canberrans deserve better and at the very least, they deserve to know that their rubbish will be collected,” Ms Lawder concluded.