The fuel crisis and Australians’ love affair with petrol guzzling monster cars

Now that the government is spruiking BIG car owners to "unload excess weight" and do their 'little bit' because of dwindling reserves, we are looking back on last year 's headlines to unravel how we got here.:

" Australians are obsessed with SUVs and huge utes, but experts say they are making our roads deadlier
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/13/australian-suv-huge-ute-obsession-roads-more-dangerous

* Big cars are increasing Australia’s emission and fuel bills – but what are the alternatives for families?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/30/australia-fuel-efficient-family-cars-guide-best

* ‘You have unmet needs’: the psychology behind Australia’s love affair with big cars
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/15/you-have-unmet-needs-the-psychology-behind-australias-love-affair-with-big-cars

* Road hogs: what is Australia’s love of big cars costing us all?
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2025/mar/16/road-hogs-what-is-australias-love-of-big-cars-costing-us-all

* The cars eating Australia: should we be trying to reverse our attraction to SUVs and utes?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/17/the-cars-eating-australia-should-we-be-trying-to-reverse-our-attraction-to-suvs-and-utes

** The Government launches $20 million fuel saving campaign: "Every little bit helps" Along with asking the public to consider using their car less, the ads promote tips to improve vehicle fuel efficiency, such as "driving smoothly" and "unloading excess weight". >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-11/government-launches-multi-million-dollar-fuel-saving-campaign/106555004

Image: Australia loves huge SUVs and trucks. First Dog on the Moon
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/18/australia-loves-huge-suvs-and-trucks-will-nobody-think-of-the-car-parks

#FossilFuel #fuel #petrol #cars #vehicles #SUVs #CarDependency #PetrolDependency #EnergySecurity #consumption #climate #pollution #RaodTrauma #BigCars #BigCarparks #FuelGuzzlers #FuelSaving #TaxPerks #NegativeExternalities #RoadFatalities #RoadDeaths #speed #pedestrians #MobilityDesign #governance #Australia #love #big #ExcessWeight #roads

The NSW blueberry industry

"Almost 80 per cent of Australia's blueberries are grown on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, where the industry has grown rapidly.The NSW Environment Protection Authority polices the rules and since 2020 its inspections in berry-growing areas around Coffs Harbour and Nambucca have increased by 180 per cent, finding "occasional transgressions"."

"A recent meeting of the Nambucca Environment Network at Macksville, locals raised concerns about the berry industry's use of chemicals, water, protective plastic tunnels and bird netting. The... laws haven't kept pace with the industry." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-28/blueberry-boom-regulation-nsw-mid-north-coast/106490330

Let's cover the Mid North Coast of NSW in plastic..>>
https://mastodon.au/@Bellingen/115991755455133375
#BerryIndustry #blueberries #pollution #NSW #MidNorthCoast #water #spraydrift #plastic #HorticultureIndustry #DA #FoodSafety #food #pesticides #dimethoate #harm #negativeexternalities

The “shifting of the intergenerational burden” - more frequent and extreme disasters

"The next generation of Australian workers will cop a $185,000 bill over their lifetimes if the country does not act more urgently to address the climate crisis."

“We have been kicking this can down the road so future generations will have to bear more of the impact of climate change and pick up the tab for more climate action and the costs of adapting to climate change."

“At some point, if climate change is not addressed, it poses an existential risk to human survival, so it’s right up there. It’s difficult to imagine anything that could or should be ranked higher.” >>
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/23/australia-generation-alpha-faces-185k-bill-over-lifetime-without-urgent-action-on-climate-crisis-report-finds
#FossilFuels #consumption #ClimateCrisis #IntergenerationalBurden #disasters #habitability #parenting #children #NegativeExternalities

War? Out with petrol standards. Maximising harm from vehicle pollution.

What’s ‘dirty fuel’ doing to our lungs? The same as it did for most of 2025

Why does sulfur in fuel matter for health?
"Traffic-related pollution causes harm even at the relatively low levels found in Australia. Cleaner fuel means cleaner air – and cleaner air saves lives. Even short detours from that path should be taken cautiously, transparently and for as little time as possible." >>
https://theconversation.com/whats-dirty-fuel-doing-to-our-lungs-the-same-as-it-did-for-most-of-2025-278534
#FossilFuels #pollution #cars #idling #roads #sulphur #AirQuality #war #oil #SacrificeZone #PrematureDeaths #NegativeExternalities #health

Motorists killing road workers? Money over lives?
We'd rather not know

"The way road trauma was classified contributed to that visibility problem."

"A traffic controller killed at a roadworks site does not appear in a public 'road worker' category."

"...While Queensland published weekly road toll figures, there was no one publicly accessible source that integrated public road fatalities, work-related road deaths, serious injury hospitalisations in one place or in near-real time. Road workers are especially vulnerable because they are exposed on high-speed corridors where a single reckless decision can have catastrophic consequences."

"Tragically, one afternoon Suzanne was struck by a truck travelling 106km/h in a 60km/h zone. The truck drove on the footpath and killed her." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-10/qld-road-death-roadworks-traffic-controller/106391030
#roads #RoadTrauma #RoadFatalities #SacrificeZone #cars #OHS #work #RoadToll #RoadSafety #accountability #NegativeExternalities #invisibility #speed #footpaths

Image: Coffs Harbour, Pacific Highway conveyor belt 'upgrade', less bush but ready for a bright fossil fuel future without cycle paths and footpaths.

Elevated levels of lead in childrens' blood from mining? We'd rather not know

NSW Health continues to use machine known to produce inaccurate results to test child blood lead levels >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/09/nsw-health-children-blood-lead-levels-test-machine-inaccurate-results

Environment watchdog buried report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies, emails show >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/05/
#mining #contamination #children #BrainDevelopment #lead #WillfulIgnorance #NSW #NegativeExternalities #EPA #harm

Smoulderscape

Still suffocating in smoke pollution
from the 'agricultural activity' of
post-harvest burning by the cellulose 'plantations'
of the NSW government's Forestry Corporation.

Déjà vu
* " “Rome Plows,” massive bulldozers with an armor-fortified cutting blade, could clear 1,000 acres a day. Enormous concussive bombs, known as “daisy cutters”, flattened forests and set off shock waves killing everything within a 3,000-foot (900-meter) radius, down to earthworms in the soil. " >>
https://theconversation.com/50-years-later-vietnams-environment-still-bears-the-scars-of-war-and-signals-a-dark-future-for-gaza-and-ukraine-254971

* Ecocide and the history of herbicidal warfare in the Vietnam War >>
https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/vietnam-war-1962-1975/events/aftermath/agent-orange

#Pollution #Smoke #pollution #HealthHazards #FCNSW #forestry #harm #Bellingenshire #Gleniffer #BellingenLogging #NSW #COPD #AirQuality #breathing #soot #PineCreekStateForest #TuckersNobSF #PostHarvestBurning #agriculture #PileBurning #NSW #EPA #AirQuality #CleanAir #SacrificeZone #extractivism #LoggingIndustry #NegativeExternalities #governance #care #StructuralViolence

Suffocating in smoke pollution
from the 'agricultural activity' of
post-harvest pile burning by the cellulose 'plantations'
of the NSW government's Forestry Corporation.

"You can kill a person with post-harvest burning just as well as with an axe”.
(Bertolt Brech, slightly altered)

"Structural violence
is a form of violence wherein some social structure or social institution may harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs or rights."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_violence

When residents express their concerns about the prolonged toxic pollution to the relevant state institutions, the response is along the lines of 'close up your house, stay indoors or move away and shut up.'

Toxic smoke pollution maximising harm >>
https://mastodon.au/@Bellingen/116146034632404631

(The original quote: "You can kill a person with an apartment just as well as with an axe”. Heinrich Zille/ B. Brecht)

#Pollution #Smoke #HealthHazards #FCNSW #forestry #harm #Bellingenshire #Gleniffer #NSW #COPD #AirQuality #breathing #soot #PineCreekStateForest #TuckersNobSF #PostHarvestBurning #agriculture #PileBurning #NSW #EPA #AirQuality #CleanAir #SacrificeZone #extractivism #LoggingIndustry #NegativeExternalities #governance #care #StructuralViolence