Wednesday 2 September 2026
Parents for Climate has condemned the Queensland Government's decision to abandon its zero-emissions bus program in favour of up to 630 diesel buses, warning the move locks in decades of harmful pollution and risky fuel dependence while the rest of the country moves toward cleaner options.
Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg this week confirmed the entire new fleet would run on diesel instead of being electric, in a program expected to cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Parents for Climate CEO Nic Seton said the decision failed Queensland families on health, cost and climate grounds.
"Queensland is the Sunshine State, but on public transport this government is choosing to go the way of the dinosaurs. Six hundred and thirty new diesel buses is a decision to keep pumping pollution into our kids' lungs for the next 20 years, at exactly the moment every other state is choosing cleaner air for our kids.
"No parent drops their child at the school bus stop hoping for more diesel fumes. Families want their kids breathing clean air, not standing in a cloud of exhaust every morning."
Dr Clare Walter from Sustainable Health & Environment Network, Deakin University, leads research that highlights the health impacts and economic burden caused through diesel exhaust.
Dr Walter said, “Every diesel bus is a moving source of air pollution. Euro 6 is a significant improvement on older diesel technology, but it doesn't make the exhaust disappear. We know that traffic-related nitrogen dioxide is linked to cancer, respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease, and that children are particularly vulnerable to exposure.
"Our research estimates heavy-vehicle emissions already impose more than $6.2 billion a year in health costs across urban Australia, and that's a conservative estimate capturing only part of the true burden. Against that backdrop, choosing new diesel buses over zero-emission buses is a very narrow way of looking at the economics. Those health costs are still being paid, even if they don't appear on the purchase price.”
Nic Seton said, "This is also a bad deal for the taxpayer. Diesel prices are volatile and rising, and every diesel bus locks Queensland taxpayers into decades of exposure to that volatility. Electric buses cost less to run over their service life. You’ve got to wonder whether this is an economic decision, or a political one, because choosing diesel now is choosing to keep paying more for longer.
"And it's a bad deal for our climate. More diesel buses means more of the emissions that are already supercharging the floods, fires and droughts Queensland families are living through. Every drop of diesel we burn comes back to Queensland communities in the form of climate impacts, and families pay the price through damaged homes, disrupted schools and rising insurance costs.
"Queensland can do better than this. We're calling on the Crisafulli Government to pause this tender, and commit instead to a fleet that protects kids' health, saves families money, and gets Queensland off its dependence on diesel."
Parents for Climate is calling on the Queensland Government to:
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Reverse the decision to lock in an all-diesel bus fleet and commit to a genuine mix of zero-emissions buses in the new procurement.
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Fund the depot upgrades and charging infrastructure needed to support zero-emissions buses, rather than using their absence as the reason to abandon the policy.
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Release independent modelling comparing the full health, fuel and whole-of-life costs of diesel versus electric buses before awarding any contracts.
Notes to Editors:
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Peer-reviewed Expert Position Statement, "The Unpriced Burden: Heavy vehicle emissions and the $6.2 billion health cost," Dr Clare Walter, Dr Ben Ewald, Becca Lui, Dr Gerda Kuschel, Prof Louis Irving, Farid Abu-Ghazaleh, Prof Mark Stevenson, prepared with support from Melbourne Climate Futures, University of Melbourne: https://figshare.unimelb.edu.au/articles/report/The_Unpriced_Burden_Heavy_vehicle_emissions_and_the_6_2_billion_health_cost/31368604?file=62027377
Media Enquiries
Nic Seton - Parents for Climate CEO - 0407 638 973
About us:
About Parents for Climate:
Parents for Climate represents over 27,000 parents, grandparents and carers from Australia. We are Australia's leading organisation for people who care about a safe future for kids and advocating for a safe climate. Our supporters come from across the political spectrum, all Australian electorates, and from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. We seek non-partisan responses to climate change and its impacts.
We advocate for Australian governments and businesses to take urgent action to cut Australia's carbon emissions to net zero as quickly as possible. We encourage Australia to demonstrate leadership on the world stage through positive and proactive domestic action and calling for other nations to take the necessary steps to protect our children's futures. For more information, visit www.parentsforclimate.org
Contact details:
Nic Seton - Parents for Climate CEO - 0407 638 973
