North-Eastern Metropolitan Region
Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:47): (84) My question is to the minister for transport, and it relates to the North East Link project currently well underway in my electorate, on which I receive frequent communication from constituents. This is a $16.5 billion project set to add 100,000 extra vehicles every day to the Eastern Freeway. This will shift 25,000 daily commuters away from low-emissions public transport into polluting internal combustion engine cars. Vehicle pollution, both fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxide, is estimated to cause the premature deaths of more than 11,000 Australians annually. That is more than 10 times that of vehicular accidents. Given this information and the huge scale of the project, a subsequent increase in local road pollution is of key concern to constituents of the North-Eastern Metropolitan Region. As this project and construction are well underway, I ask on behalf of my constituency: what will the government do to ensure accurate and consistent measurement and publication of air pollution information from the North East Link, and how will they protect the community from this potential harm?