The Canberra Liberals have again demonstrated their hypocrisy by back flipping on the banning of light-weight plastic bags in the ACT, Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Simon Corbell said.

"Today Mr Seselja has finally revealed an environmental policy position, saying he would repeal the ban on plastic bags, despite the Liberals saying in 2004 that shopping bags would be made illegal by 2006, if they had won that election," Mr Corbell said.

"It is hypocritical of the liberals to now say they would repeal the ban and in fact this is another backwards step by the opposition on the ACT environment."

In a motion to reduce plastic bag usage, in the Legislative Assembly in 2003, moved by Vicki Dunne, she said:

"2 per cent may not sound like a significant figure but the unsightliness of plastic bags, along with the effect that they have on the environment, in particular waterways, and the fact that they take somewhere between 20 to 1000 years to break down in the environment, have forced us to look at new ways to recycle and reduce the number of plastic bags used in this country and, indeed Canberra each year."

"It is disappointing to see the next instalment of environmental backward-thinking from the opposition leader who seems intent on wrecking any attempts to better protect the local environment in the ACT," he said.

"It is the ACT Labor Government that has introduced, and successfully passed, legislation for nation-leading greenhouse gas emission reduction targets; policies to make Canberra Australia's Solar Capital with the roll-out of 'big solar'; as well as an energy efficiency scheme that will benefit more than half of Canberra households as they will save energy as well as money on their bills..

"The opposition has leader has voted against all of these steps that make Canberra more sustainable and he must be held accountable for his actions.

"The Liberal's position announced today to repeal legislation to ban light-weight plastic bags just demonstrates that Mr Seselja has no ideas to put to the Canberra community, rather just an Abbott like philosophy that seeks to wreck and in-turn take the ACT backwards."

"The purpose of this legislation is to encourage a cultural shift to more sustainable shopping practices, and the government believes that a ban is the correct tool to make this shift.

"The Liberals need to start coming up with unique and constructive environmental policies ahead of the October election, instead of just seeking to take Canberra backwards and put the environment at risk into the future."