You make it sound like Australia has a huge problem with plastic/trash in waterways that "Australia" is actively ignoring.

In general, Australian's culture is to use rubbish bins and keep things tidy.

Sidepoint: I am not sure if it is something only Australians do, but whenever something about Australia comes up, there will be an Australian there bemoaning how badly we do things. Yes, there is always room for improvement, but Australia is so far ahead of most countries in just about any measure that you choose, that one has to wonder where this sentiment stems from.

It's probably because a lot of people feel we could easily do better when it comes to the environment - regardless of what other countries might be doing.

And there are a number of areas where we certainly aren't ahead either.

Oh I agree that we can do better, and should do better. I am more taking issue at people who make it sound like Australia is terrible compared to just about any other country, no matter what the discussion is about.

Whether the discussion be about environment, politics, innovation, corruption, you name it, some Australian will start moaning about how badly we do X.

I wasn't implying that things were bad in Australia in this case, just that the credit for this net idea could be better given to a specific person or organisation.

I.e., there's no "Australia" program to install these nets, as far as I know.

Fair enough. Apologies for reading too much into your words, and ascribing a meaning beyond what you had intended.