Here’s the part most Australians don’t know. For years, our petrol would have been illegal in almost every country we’d consider a peer. Europe hit 10ppm sulphur limits back in 2009. The United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, China, even India all got there before us.
Global consultancy Stratas Advisors ranked Australia’s fuel quality 85th in the world. We sat between Argentina and Tanzania. A 2017 Commonwealth review put us 70th globally and dead last among the 35 OECD countries.
And what are we going back to?
Air pollution causes approximately 5,000 premature deaths in Australia each year. Vehicle emissions account for a significant chunk of that figure. Research from the University of Melbourne and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare linked dirty fuel directly to heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and asthma. Emerging studies suggest connections to Alzheimer’s, dementia, and ADHD.
The annual health cost? Around $17.8 billion, with another $4.5 billion in welfare losses and lost productivity. That exceeds the national burden of obesity.
The International Council on Clean Transportation estimated that proper fuel standards could reduce premature deaths from vehicle emissions by up to 75 per cent. For years, Australian policymakers had that research sitting on their desks.
That does make it sound better, but that change was already a more than a decade overdue
And what are we going back to?