Doctors and parent groups are urging the Crisafulli Government to reconsider its decision to abandon plans to electrify the public bus fleet and instead buy up to 630 new diesel buses, warning the move will prolong exposure to harmful air pollution and add to climate emissions.
The call from Doctors for the Environment Australia (QLD), AMA Queensland and Parents for Climate comes ahead of this week’s parliamentary sitting.
The groups warn diesel exhaust contributes to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, with children particularly vulnerable to air pollution while their lungs are developing. Diesel emissions also contribute to climate change, which is intensifying health risks from extreme heat, bushfires and floods.
The decision to buy diesel buses is a missed opportunity to reduce pollution in urban communities and move Queensland towards cleaner public transport.
The groups point to the growing adoption of zero-emission buses in other states and in cities worldwide as evidence that cleaner alternatives are available.
*Parent case studies available on request in Brisbane
*Medical spokespeople available on request in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast
DEA Queensland
DEA member and paediatrician, Dr Michael Williams said:
“Exposure to traffic-related air pollution is linked to health problems in all age groups, including asthma and impaired lung development in children,” Dr Williams said.
“Moving to electric buses creates an opportunity to reduce the air pollution and carbon emissions in our urban areas.”
DEA member and GP, Dr David King said:
“Electric buses will avoid the costs of illness, hospitalisation, and premature death caused by diesel exhaust.
“Queensland deserves clean, safe, modern public transport – not decades more diesel pollution harming our health.”
AMA Queensland
AMA Queensland President Associate Professor Erica Gannon said it was a disappointing U-turn.
“We support a deeper, evidence-based commitment to electrifying Queensland’s bus fleet, not slamming on the brakes and instead putting more than 600 diesel vehicles and their tail pipe pollution back on our roads.”
Parents for Climate
Parents for Climate CEO Nic Seton said parents expected the Queensland Government to put children’s health first.
“No parent wants their child breathing diesel fumes at the bus stop or on the ride to school. When doctors are warning that these buses will harm children’s developing lungs, parents expect the government to listen.
“These buses will be on Queensland roads for the next 20 years. That’s a whole generation of kids growing up breathing their exhaust, when zero-emission buses are already running in other states.
“The Crisafulli Government still has time to get this right. We’re asking it to pause this tender and give Queensland kids the clean, safe buses they deserve.”
