Legislative Council
CAR EXHAUST FUMES
The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: I seek leave to make a brief explanation
before asking the Minister for Transport and Urban Planning a question about car exhaust
fumes.
Leave granted.
The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: In an opinion piece in the Advertiser on 16
February this year, Professor Paul Davies raised the issue of diesel fumes and
carcinogenic substances, claiming that the two most carcinogenic substances known come
from trucks. In the article he referred to an inversion layer which had occurred
persistently over the city in the previous week and he went on to blame vehicle emissions.
He claimed that, while we are putting a lot of money into campaigns regarding speed and
alcohol, more people are being killed by vehicle pollutants each year and that no-one is
particularly interested in this fact.
I sympathise with Prof. Davies, because I find that increasingly I have to turn off the
fresh air intake of my car when I am driving behind another car that is belching smoke and
fumes. My questions to the Minister are:
1. Does the Minister agree with Prof. Davies that more people are being killed each
year by vehicle pollutants than by road traffic incidents? If so, will she provide
relevant figures?
2. What vehicle exhaust emission standards does South Australia have in place and
for which chemicals, and how often are these updated against scientific literature?
3. What actions are police taking to defect cars which are clearly emitting more
than their fair share of chemicals, and will the Minister provide details of the number of
cars defected for exhaust emissions each year for the past five years?
4. In the light of Prof. Davies' claims, does the Minister consider that a more
concerted campaign should be conducted by police?
The Hon. DIANA LAIDLAW: I have been looking to see whether I have
some advice at hand on the programs undertaken between Transport SA, the Environment
Protection Authority and the police in terms of vehicle emissions and smoky vehicles, as
they are commonly called, but I do not have that information. Therefore, I will bring back
detailed replies for the honourable member. I highlight that, when I last inquired, advice
from police is that an increasing number of random checks that they undertake on our roads
on a regular basis involve the defecting of cars for smoky exhausts. Those cars, with
defect notices attached, must have their defect remedied and be returned to either the
police or Transport SA for that defect notice to be lifted. Transport SA and the
Environment Protection Authority have established a hotline for the reporting of smoky
vehicles, and that has attracted about 3 000 calls since it was implemented. Those calls
are then followed up, in addition to the random checks undertaken by the police. As I have
prepared answers to questions from constituents on the same subject in recent times, my
office has all this information at hand, and I will provide it to the honourable member,
hopefully, this week.
The Hon. L.H. DAVIS: By way of supplementary question, is the
Minister aware that a recent study, published in the Age newspaper, Victoria, indicated
that there had been a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions as a result of the
introduction of catalytic converters that had resulted in a dramatic improvement in the
air in Melbourne? Could the Minister provide this information to the Council, and could
she advise also the Council, perhaps on notice, whether similar studies are undertaken in
Adelaide, which may well allay the Hon. Sandra Kanck's concerns and, in fact, point to an
improvement.
Members interjecting:
The PRESIDENT: Order!
The Hon. DIANA LAIDLAW: I will get the information for the
honourable member on the Melbourne study and seek to ascertain whether similar research is
undertaken here. I highlight that one of the issues here is the age of our vehicles in
Australia and in South Australia, which is higher than the average of OECD countries
generally. Also, the issue has often been raised that newer vehicles do not tend to have
the same emission levels as older vehicles. That is a relevant fact. Also, in the past we
have brought before this Parliament a reference on compulsory vehicle inspections. The
Environment, Resources and Development Committee, on which the Democrats are represented,
did not support the compulsory inspection of vehicles, but that has certainly been
advocated as one issue that should be explored again in terms of emissions.
An honourable member interjecting:
The Hon. DIANA LAIDLAW: I raise this matter because there seems to
be a contradiction in the Democrats between concern about the environment and emissions
and age of vehicles, and compulsory inspections of vehicles. I am keen to see the issue of
compulsory inspections re-explored by the Parliament through the Transport Safe joint
standing committee, a motion in respect of which is before the House of Assembly at
present.
Read the Governmernt Reply: 27 October 1998
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