Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

The Idle Off Campaign is an initiative to improve air quality for kids around schools and childcare centres by asking parents to switch off their engines whilst they're waiting in line to pick their kids up from school. It's a campaign that's a partnership between Parents for Climate and Doctors for the Environment that was initiated in my electorate. We know that every day cars sit with their engines running while parked and that idling sends exhaust fumes straight into the air that our children breathe in. Kids' lungs are still developing and, because they breathe more air relative to their body size than adults, they're more vulnerable to traffic pollution. Short-term exposure can trigger asthma and respiratory irritation. Repeated exposure can affect lung, heart and brain development. Leaving an engine running near a child can be the equivalent of smoking a cigarette around them.

Idle Off is a campaign of prevention, not blame. Turning off the engine when parked for more than a few seconds reduces harmful pollution immediately and improves air quality. I want to acknowledge Dr Anthony Hull and Dr Fiona Foo from my area for their leadership of the Idle Off project. They're working to help reduce exposure to invisible air pollution. A small change can have a big effect on our kids' health.

I also want to report on the reopening of the Only About Children childcare centre in Maroubra. This reopening reminds me, once again, of the strength and resilience of our community. On 21 January 2025, the childcare centre was firebombed and antisemitic graffiti was written on the walls of the childcare centre, which is next door to the Maroubra Synagogue. It attempted to leave the community frightened, divided and silenced. But, from the number of people who joined us at the reopening, it was clear that the attempt failed. Our community chose a different path. Our response to that shocking event was to work together, to choose unity over division and to focus on solving challenges, rather than taking potshots at one another. We embrace the spirit represented by the mural on the outside wall that I commissioned many years ago to combat antisemitism in our community and that of the students who created it. The theme is: harmony, respect and unity.

This centre thrives not only because of its facilities and programs but because of the people who bring it to life, the children whose curiosity fills each room and the educators who guide and nurture them. The childcare centre is actually on the site of the old Maroubra Junction infant school, where I went to school as a kid. On that site is a massive oak tree that we used to play on as kids. There were plenty of falls out of that tree in my time! But it's wonderful to see that that oak tree is still there in the playground of the childcare centre, a great example of the resilience and determination of our community to fight antisemitism and racism.

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