Independent candidate for Bass, Dr George Razay has outlined his plan to improve Launceston's air quality and reduce pollution just days out from Saturday's election.
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Reducing the reliance on carbon dioxide emitting cars and a push towards electric vehicles was identified as an area the doctor would address if successful at Saturday's election.
The career physician resigned from his role at the Launceston General Hospital earlier this year to stand as a candidate in the federal election.
At the time Dr Razay said health would form the cornerstone of his campaign policies, and pointed to Launceston's reliance on cars over public transport as one of the main issues he would address.
"Unfortunately, our society is increasingly more reliant on cars," he said. "Transport is a major contributor to air pollution and nitrogen oxides - a major pollutant - arise primarily from city traffic - especially diesel cars.
Dr Razay said Tasmania had the highest number of vehicles per 1000 people of any state, and the oldest car fleet - with the average age of Tasmania's cars 2.7 years older than the rest of the nation.
He said the reliance on diesel vehicles had also risen - further compounding the issue.
According to Dr Razay, prolonged exposure to air pollution caused by carbon dioxide emitting cars had significant health implications, which could lead to increased respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses and mortality.
"There is an urgent need to reduce air pollution in our cities for the protection of human health and future diseases," he said.
"It is clear that air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide induce inflammation and oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction and weakening of the immune system, all of which contribute to increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, acute and chronic respiratory diseases - especially asthma among children whose lungs are more sensitive to air pollution than adults."
Dr Razay said the best and healthiest way to reduce air pollution was to walk, cycle and use public transport, but said public transport in Bass needed to be improved to become a viable option.
"The best and healthier option is to encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport which is the best way to take more cars off the road," he said.
"We need to make public transport more efficient, reliable and cheaper than using cars to encourage more people to use it."
Electric cars were also pointed to as a solution to the growing rate of emissions, but Dr Razay said the state needed to start planning for an increase in electric vehicles now to make the alternative a sustainable option for the future.
"Some people are interested in getting an electric car, but the concerns of cost and whether there will be access to a charging station prevent many people from being able to choose this low-carbon option," he said.
"We, therefore, need to invest in electric vehicle charging stations, just as we built the highway system."
Earlier this month, The City of Launceston announced it would install four additional EV chargers bringing the city's charging capacity to seven.
Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said while overall electric vehicle sales accounted for a small percentage of vehicle sales in Australia, it was a growing segment of the market.
"Electric vehicles have many benefits, including helping to lower CO2 emissions," he said.
"Most industry experts expect this segment of the vehicle market to continue to grow in future and to see prices for new EVs dropping as technology and manufacturing processes improve.
Beyond health, the rise in fuel prices had precipitated an increasing demand for electric vehicles with Launceston retailers struggling to meet the demand.
In March, second-hand EV retailer Good Car Co said demand had doubled since fuel prices rose which saw the business sell out of its EV stock - a trend co-founder Anton Vikstrom expected to persist for at least two years.
As a young industry, Mr Vikstrom said the manufacturing and supply chain had not yet reached the point where producers had enough supply to meet consumer demand.
With many people outpriced by the new technology, coupled with an EV shortage, Dr Razay said investing in public transport represented the best option citing their ability to move large numbers of people while eliminating multiple vehicles.
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