Public health & low carbon transport: what parties said
While the relationship between these might seem obvious to readers of Talk Wellington, public health researchers thought they’d ask political parties about this directly, and see what they said. The results are…
We recently discovered that there’s a Public Health Communication Centre – how very useful! They’re doing a graet public service this election year:
The Election 2023 Public Health Survey
In the lead up to the 2023 General Election, the Public Health Communication Centre contacted each of the five major parties with a set of questions about their position on five areas relevant to public health: future risks, tax, water quality, transport, and health equity. In this Public Health Expert Briefing series, experts summarise and analyse the parties’ responses.
You can read more about the survey in our introductory article, and the articles in the series will be collated here as they are published.
Dr Caroline Shaw, a pillar of New Zealand’s transport and public health (and a Wellingtonian!) alerted us to this lovely clear writeup of the transport survey of parties.
The researchers picked two questions which set parties up to reveal their approaches to low-carbon transport, pro-public-health transport, and equity.
The article’s intro material is itself a great summary of the whys and wherefores on the transport-health-climate nexus – just good general knowledge for all Kiwis. Definitely worth a bookmark!
The researchers then consider parties’ answers to the key questions, considering the full spectrum of policies’ impacts on the world from embodied carbon through to effects on people’s everyday habits. The results of the survey are fascinating (if a bit grim).
While this is predictable, because New Zealand continues to be pretty rubbish (and deluded) where it comes to tackling global boiling, the article helpfully identifies where parties are proposing stuff that could actually make things worse.
It’s essential reading.
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