Bag End

As if the world weren't a crazy enough place, my old home state, Victoria, is planning to ban free plastic shopping bags.

With 1.1 billion bags still handed out in Victoria every year despite a voluntary national scheme to phase them out, the State Government now plans to introduce laws to come into force from January 1, 2009, meaning shoppers will pay a levy of at least 10 cents a bag.

Look, if you can persuade people not to want the bags, be my guest. I'm sure the shopkeepers would be glad to see the demand for bags go down, since they have to pay for them. But the campaign's obviously failed. People like plastic throw-away shopping bags, because they're much more convenient than any alternative. They're aware of the down side, they've considered it briefly, and they've rejected it. But instead of accepting that rejection and moving on, Bracks is going to impose his religious views on everybody by force.

Hmm, that's my second post today about a Lebanese Premier...