ACT Greens MLA Johnathan Davis believes public healthcare must be climate proofed. He will call today on the ACT Government to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to measure and respond to the impact of the climate crisis on the delivery of public healthcare.

“The climate crisis poses a ‘substantial and mounting threat to public health in Australia’,” Mr Davis said. “It impacts health by exposing people to increased temperatures, heatwaves, and smoke from bushfires, and increasing the spread of disease.”

Speaking on ABC Radio this morning, Mr Davis said that climate change would affect both mental and physical health.

“It’s impossible to see the news about bush fires, floods, and drought and that not have an impact… The air that we breathe, the water we drink, the food available to us and access to our food bowl are all going to be affected by climate change.”

He believes public healthcare must plan for a changing climate in the next two decades.

“Not only how we are treating people in our public health care system, but what kind of preventative health care measures are we putting in place to mitigate against the risks on public health from a changing climate, and how are we keeping people out of hospital in the first place?”

“In 2020, Canberrans voted for a government that takes decisive action to respond to the climate crisis,” Mr Davis stated. “Whether it’s planning for net zero emissions by 2045, preparing for a future free from gas, incentives for zero emissions vehicles, or trialling food and garden waste recycling, just to name a few initiatives.”

“Now is the right time for the ACT Government to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to measure and respond to the impact of the climate crisis on the delivery of public healthcare.”

Mr Davis’s motion will call on the ACT Government to report back to the ACT Legislative Assembly by the last sitting week of 2023.

This motion honours the ACT Greens election commitment to develop a health-based response to the climate crisis.