National women’s organisation VIEW (short for the Voice, Interests and Education of Women) will call on our leaders to introduce a drink container deposit levy in all states and territories.
South Australia has operated such a system since 1970 and North Rocks Evening VIEW Club member Heather Isemonger can’t see why the rest of Australia doesn’t.
The system provides an incentive of 10cents per container for people to take them to a recycling plant, thereby reducing the number of drink containers ending up in creeks, rivers, lakes, public parks and recreational areas.
‘‘It’s a great idea but I think there would have to be a great deal of research done on how to implement it,’’ said Mrs Isemonger, who is also VIEW’s national president.
‘‘There’s so much wastage that goes on, so the more we can recycle and help save our community the better.’’
The idea was one of four passed by 700 women at last month’s Annual National VIEW Convention in Melbourne.
The delegates voted: to ban the advertising of online betting during televised sporting events; to raise public awareness about the importance of vitamin D; and for an arrangement to be made between all levels of government, to create improved educational outcomes for Australian children.
‘‘A few [attendees] abstained from voting and there were a few ‘no’ votes, but on the whole the resolutions got strong support,’’ said Mrs Isemonger who, having been a school teacher all her life, felt especially strongly about creating a national agenda for children.
Established in 1960, VIEW is part of The Smith Family.
‘‘It’s a support network for women, many of whom are widowed and single, which also fundraises towards the financial support of disadvantaged students,’’ Mrs Isemonger of North Rocks said.
She joined VIEW in 2000 on recommendation by the then president.
North Rocks Evening has 70 members, who sponsor three students through VIEW’s Learning for Life scholarship program, which provides financial support for 940 primary, secondary and tertiary students nationally.
‘‘Many families are in their circumstances not only because of their choices and it’s their children who suffer if they can’t go on that excursion, or if Mum can’t afford their uniform — and this is where the Learning for Life scholarships help,’’ Mrs Isemonger said.
She said many people did not realise the influence of VIEW.
‘‘We’ve got 20,000 members across the nation and if we can say ‘20,000 women support this resolution’, it has weight,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s what the ‘V’ in VIEW stands for - ‘voice’ — and with our voices we can speak out about what’s of interest to us in our community, which we do.
‘‘We have voting within the club and then voting at our convention about issues we feel to be of national importance for the future wellbeing of Australian society. We then write letters to parliamentarians and non-government organisations, and almost always we get a response.’’
■Local VIEW clubs: Galston meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month; Hills District (fourth Tuesday); North Rocks Evening (second Tuesday); Pennant Hills (second Tuesday); and Westleigh (second Thursday). Details: austcom.org.au/viewclubs.html.
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