By Matthew Sims
The Maribyrnong Truck Action Group (MTAG) is renewing calls for the state government to take immediate action to reduce truck-related diesel pollution in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
The MTAG’s demands to the state government are to introduce a low emissions zone in the inner west, extend truck curfew to protect school children during lunch times, install filtration on the West Gate Tunnel exhaust stacks to reduce particle pollution and ban old trucks from operating at the Port of Melbourne.
MTAG president Martin Wurt said the group wants action now.
“We are sick and tired of waiting for real action to protect our health,” he said.
“Our children’s health should be the priority of our state government as opposed to allowing our residential streets to continue to be used as truck sewers.
“There are immediate actions that the government can take to reduce air pollution as outlined in the Inner West Air Quality Report and proven internationally.”
According to Torrens University’s 2019 Social Health Atlas of Australia, the risk of ischemic heart disease among Maribyrnong residents was 40 per cent higher than average, while the risk of hospital admission for asthma was 41 per cent above average and the risk of Maribyrnong residents suffering a stroke was 40 per cent above average risk of stroke, which was the highest rate across the state.
Hospital admissions for breathing and lung-related illness for young people aged between three and 19 are 70 per cent above the Victorian average.
According to the Inner West Air Quality Community Reference Group’s March 2020 report on air pollution in Melbourne’s inner west, Environment Protection Authority monitoring shows that since 2010-11,
there have been 297 instances of air quality exceeding reporting standards across the metropolitan area as a whole, with 201 or 71 per cent in the inner west.
The state government’s actions so far have included a $15 million grants package to modernise the trucks which travel through the western suburbs, while Maribyrnong council endorsed its Air Quality Improvement Plan last August.
