Have your say: NSW Air Pollution Inquiry

This summer, millions of people were exposed to toxic bushfire smoke for weeks, fuelled by climate change that will only get worse unless governments act now.

Seeing Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney on the world’s most polluted cities list put air pollution on the map for all of us.

Each year, almost 5000 Australians die from exposure to air pollution and thousands more suffer serious health issues like stroke, lung cancer and heart disease. And that's without counting the new threat of bushfire smoke.

The NSW Parliament has launched an Inquiry into the health impacts of air pollution with ...

This summer, millions of people were exposed to toxic bushfire smoke for weeks, fuelled by climate change that will only get worse unless governments act now.

Seeing Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney on the world’s most polluted cities list put air pollution on the map for all of us.

Each year, almost 5000 Australians die from exposure to air pollution and thousands more suffer serious health issues like stroke, lung cancer and heart disease. And that's without counting the new threat of bushfire smoke.

The NSW Parliament has launched an Inquiry into the health impacts of air pollution with a focus on the bushfires – it’s critical they hear from those affected.

Will you make a submission to the Inquiry and have your say on the impacts of air pollution and how the government should protect our health?

It’s so much more impactful if you write a submission in your own words. We've created an easy submission guide so you can write your response from scratch. Or have your say here using our email template - you can still add a personal message to make your submission stronger.

For your email submission to be accepted it is essential that you include information required by the committee. You can do this by clicking and editing the submission letter and adding your details to the required fields.

You'll need to include your phone number, let them know whether you are lodging this submission as an indvidual or on behalf of an organisation and also let them know whether you'd like the committee to consider:

Making the submission and your name public.
Making the submission public but withholding your name.
Keeping part of the submission confidential.

Thank you for speaking out.

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Make a submission to the NSW Air Pollution Inquiry

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We have to make sure the NSW government understands that cleaning up existing sources of air pollution is one of the most effective ways to reduce the health impacts of bushfire smoke. Make a submission to the NSW Air Pollution Inquiry today.

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Dear Committee,

Phone Number: <<INCLUDE YOUR PHONE NUMBER HERE>>

I am making this submission on behalf of<<MYSELF OR NAME OR ORG>>

I would like you to make my submission <<CHOOSE FROM - PUBLIC/ PUBLIC BUT NAME WITHHELD / PARTIALLY CONFIDENTIAL (let them know which part)/ ENTIRELY CONFIDENTIAL>>

Thank you for the opportunity to provide a submission to the ‘Inquiry into the health impacts of exposure to poor levels of air quality resulting from bushfires and drought’.

Each year, almost 5000 Australians die from exposure to air pollution and thousands more suffer serious health issues like stroke, lung cancer and heart disease. And that's without counting the additional exposure to bushfire smoke.

The current air pollution regulatory framework is not strong enough to protect the health of the NSW community from exposure to air pollution.

The vast majority of air pollution in NSW comes from ageing coal-fired power stations and motor vehicles. The NSW Air Emissions Inventory estimates that coal-fired power stations contribute 87% of SO2 emissions and 52% of NO2 emissions, as well as 9% of direct PM2.5 emissions in the NSW Greater  Metropolitan Region (GMR).  Power stations also contribute to secondary sulfate particulate levels across the GMR. For example, power station SO2 produces close to 20% of PM2.5 at Richmond in Sydney’s north-west on an annual basis.

The most effective way to reduce the health impacts of air pollution is to clean up these major sources.

There are 8 key actions the government can take to respond to the air pollution crisis and protect the health of the NSW community:
1. The government must dramatically reduce climate emissions, and work with other states to reach the common goal of emissions reduction. If we don’t bushfires will worsen and so will the smoke impact. 
2. Understand and inform the community of the full health impacts of exposure to bushfire smoke and how to best protect their health 
3. Finalise and implement a Clean Air Strategy for NSW, for implementation 365 days a year, which includes strong measures to reduce industrial pollution as close to zero as possible.
4. Set strong stack emissions limits for coal-fired power stations in line with international standards, which will require operators to install continuous stack monitoring and best practice pollution controls. This will reduce toxic air pollution from power stations by more than 85% and improve health outcomes for the NSW community.
5. Expand NSW air quality monitoring network to areas with particular risks to health from significant air pollution sources, such as at Lake Macquarie and Lithgow.
6. Set strong health-based national air pollution standards to protect health, with an exposure reduction framework in place for continual improvement of the standards.
7. Finalise the review of the Load-Based Licencing (LBL) Scheme, including a load-based licensing fee for the coarse and fine particle pollution emitted by coal mines and associated infrastructure.
8. Commit to further research and policy development with regards to air pollution and the impacts on health.

Thank you for considering my submission.

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