ACT Greens MLAs Jo Clay and Shane Rattenbury are supporting the Hawker Repair Cafe launch, a space where the community can learn to restore their connections with the objects they own through learning to repair.
As stated by Shane Rattenbury, ACT Greens leader and Minister for Consumer Affairs:
“Canberrans deserve the right to get our faulty goods fixed, changed or improved, to improve sustainability and to stop products and resources being wasted. The ACT Greens have been calling for a national ‘right to repair’, which will put the power back in the hands of the consumer, allowing them to repair faulty goods at a competitive price by a manufacturer, a third party, or in some instances, self-repair.
“While we wait for the Federal Government to officially respond to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry, more and more local organisations are popping up, like the Hawker Repair cafe. This is a fantastic community initiative hosted by The Hawker Men’s Shed and the natural next step to teach individuals how to repair their things.”
As stated by Jo Clay, ACT Greens Member for Ginninderra and Spokesperson for Circular Economy:
“Endless consumption on a finite planet will not work. We need to move to a Circular Economy as soon as possible, and I’m really heartened to see a lot of businesses and nonprofits already showing the way right here in the ACT. It’s fantastic to see the Hawker Men’s Shed join in with this repair cafe for Belconnen. Repairing items rather than replacing them is good for the planet, good for the wallet and a great community activity to share in.”
As stated by Jon Wells, president of Hawker Men’s shed:
“The Hawker Men’s Shed was approached by Jill Whittacker of the Belconnen Buy Nothing Group in early 2020 to host a repair cafe for small household items. Hawker Men’s Shed embraced the concept and now the Hawker Repair Cafe has evolved as our marquee community project.
“We have hosted five Repair Cafes to date and have repaired over 250 items with a fixing percentage of 88%, saving all these items from going to landfill. The majority of items being presented for repair are household electrical appliances, fabric and wool clothing, small pieces of furniture, bicycles, lawnmowers, garden tools and knives for sharpening amongst others.”
