The tough fines will put supermarket operators caught supplying bags in the same criminal league as adults who supply hard liquor to children and breeders of dangerous attack dogs.
A person convicted of taking a child into a brothel would be up for a smaller fine than a shopkeeper who gives a customer a plastic shopping bag under the new laws, according to the Opposition.
Environment Minister Simon Corbell introduced legislation into the Assembly last month that will outlaw the supply of the bags by retailers from November 2011.
The move, which has the support of the ACT Greens, will bring the territory into line with South Australia, which banned the bags last year.
Opposition Leader Zed Seselja said yesterday that Mr Corbell's plastic bag ban legislation would see a $27,500 fine for a corporation or $5500 for an individual who provided a plastic bag to their customers.
''I find it remarkable Mr Corbell believes the penalty for giving a plastic bag to shoppers would carry the same penalty as selling liquor to a minor or keeping a dangerous dog,'' Mr Seselja said.
''This is the sort of heavy-handed government regulation on business that we have come to expect [from] ACT Labor.''
For more on this story, including Mr Seselja's criticism of Mr Corbell's performance in front of an Assembly committee this week, see the print edition of today's Canberra Times.
Source: The Canberra Times
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