Tuesday, 7 March 2023

Air pollution

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (13:17): I was alarmed recently to read about the effects of traffic pollution in Australia. A recent study by Melbourne Climate Futures used a peer-reviewed study from Aotearoa, New Zealand, looking into particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide levels to show that traffic pollution is likely to cause more than 11,000 premature deaths in Australia. Particulate matter, which is tiny particles formed by the combustion process in internal combustion engines, can enter the bloodstream and cause many health problems throughout the body. Many experts are calling for the introduction of emissions standards and emissions regulation.

In this chamber two weeks ago I raised the concerns of residents in Footscray who are asking for the enforcement of a 2015 curfew that would ban trucks on Moore Street in Footscray during off-peak times, for environment and health monitoring of air pollution and emissions and for this monitoring to be shared with residents. Based on a 2020 Victorian government report we know that residents in Melbourne’s inner west, who experience a high volume of truck traffic and heavy industry, have the highest rates of child asthma in the state. Their hospital admission rate is estimated to be more than 70 per cent higher than the nation’s average, and the inner west also has a higher incidence of lung cancer than the general Australian population. I call on this government to repeal its unfair EV tax, which is holding back the uptake of electric vehicles in Victoria; to tighten our air quality standards to align with World Health Organization standards; and to improve vehicle emissions standards for both light vehicles and trucks to decrease the amount of these fine particulates in our air so that our local communities can breathe a sigh of relief.