To the Hon. Catherine King MP

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

Dear Minister King,

We write to you as concerned parents, because the evidence is clear: truck pollution is harming our children, and the federal government has the power to act.

New research, authored by leading Australian academics has quantified what communities living on freight corridors have known for years. 

Heavy vehicle exhaust emissions are causing preventable deaths and unnecessary illness. The annual health cost exceeds $6.8 billion - borne by patients, taxpayers, and workers.

Our children are the most vulnerable. They breathe faster. Their bodies are still developing. 

• One in six schools and childcare centres across Australia’s capital cities are close enough to busy roads to raise serious health risks. 
• Nearly 9% of new childhood asthma cases in our region are linked to traffic pollution, and heavy vehicles are responsible for a quarter of that pollution. 
• Pollution at one approved childcare centre was equivalent to children inhaling the smoke from 8.4 cigarettes a day.

This is a national problem. Freight corridors run through suburban streets in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Parents in every capital city raise their kids in neighbourhoods, and send their children to schools where the air they breathe is making them sick and affecting their development.

Minister, this year your government will revise the Heavy Vehicle National Law. We urge you to use this opportunity to protect Australian children. Specifically, we call on you to:

1. Strengthen emissions standards for heavy vehicles. Make CO2 emissions part of our Heavy Vehicle Emissions Standards to accelerate the shift towards zero emissions trucks. 
2. Support truck drivers and small businesses to accelerate the transition. 92% of trucking businesses are small operators. They need help with the upfront costs of switching to zero-emission trucks, and they need regulatory barriers like weight and access limits reformed so that cleaner, heavier electric trucks can operate on our roads. 
3. Protect children from truck pollution now. Establish buffer zones between freight corridors and schools, childcare centres and playgrounds. Fund mitigation in high-risk areas, including green barriers and air filtration systems for schools on freight routes.

We ask you to make children’s health part of the equation when you reform the Heavy Vehicle National Law this year. Our kids cannot wait.

Yours sincerely,

Parents for Climate

On behalf of parents, carers and grandparents across Australia

Want to help keep the air cleaner around your school or childcare centre?

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Every day, cars sit with engines running while parked - this is called idling. It might seem harmless, but idling creates concentrated pollution where children and families gather, especially at schools and childcare drop-off zones.

This pollution can affect developing lungs, hearts, and brains, increasing the risk of asthma and other health problems.

By turning engines off whenever it’s safe, we can reduce unnecessary exposure and keep our air cleaner and healthier.

The government’s own National Climate Risk Assessment confirms what parents across Australia already know: climate change is putting our kids and communities in danger.

As parents, we don’t take chances with our kids safety - whether it’s buckling a seatbelt, fitting a car seat, or being sun smart, we act on the best advice. We expect our government to do the same. That means shaping climate policy with science, not politics, and committing to net zero by 2035 with strong pollution cuts this decade. Anything less puts our kids' future at risk.

The openness, honesty and playfulness of the eight children on the yellow school bus in the ‘Future Council’ film moved me through delight, tears and laughter into a deeper yearning to be a better grandparent & carer for all our children. 

We’re calling on all Australian Parliamentarians to enshrine their duty of care to protect young and future generations in law.

Building on our 2022 campaign, urging the current and former environment ministers to uphold their duty of care, we are expanding our appeal to all members and senators. And this is a critical moment!

Independent Senator David Pocock is introducing a private member’s bill to call for changes to the Climate Change Act to force government to consider the health and well being of young and future generations when making decisions about projects that impact the climate. As parents concerned about their children’s climate, we strongly support this bill.

Our love for our children is above politics. Add your support. And let’s ensure our kids are safe from climate harm caused by decisions today.

Dear Federal Parliamentarians,

 

We ask that you support the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Equity) Bill 2023, and to enshrine a duty of care to protect the health and wellbeing of young and future Australians in government decision making on projects that could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions.

 

With our sincere support, encouragement and hope for the future our kids will inherit. Our kids and their families are counting on you.

 

Australian parents, grandparents, carers and family members.