Parliament of Victoria | Legislative Council | Motion by Ms Copsey
3 June 2026
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan Region):
I would personally like to thank Ms Copsey for bringing this motion before the chamber. Free public transport has been good for Victorians in this cost-of-living crisis. However, as has been observed, the benefits have not been evenly distributed, because not all Victorians have any access to public transport.
For many of my constituents, any public transport at all would be good. Long before this latest cost-of-living crisis was brought on by fuel increases due to the war in Iran, people in the outer west and other growth areas were struggling to pay for transport. The lack of affordable, accessible, reliable public transport in these areas isolates residents from the types of facilities and amenities that most Melburnians take for granted and indeed many of us can simply walk to.
If you are living in a suburb where the nearest place to buy a carton of milk or a tube of toothpaste is 8 kilometres away, owning more than one car is not a luxury; it is a necessity and certainly a big expense you could do without.
So obviously they did not benefit from free public transport, and the government’s discounted car registration is simply not equivalent to discounted public transport. The standard passenger vehicle registration for the outer metro region is $871 per year, so with a 20 per cent discount a driver will save about $174 in rego costs for the year.
Two-car households would save $348 per annum – and of course they are still paying for fuel – whereas a household that can access public transport would have saved $228 per month during the months of free public transport. Combined with the half-price fares in operation for the rest of the year, we are talking about a saving of around $900. It is not complex, it is not equitable and it is not new.
It is typical of the government’s disregard for and neglect of the western suburbs. As Mr Mulholland said of the northern suburbs and of the far south-eastern, where there are safe Labor seats, there tend just not to be the services.
The recent announcement of a bus bonanza boosting services to better connect our suburbs sounded so very promising, but it only delivered some longer operating hours – that is good – and a few extra services. It was exactly the same piecemeal approach the government always takes to bus reform.
They had the opportunity to do this in 2024, and they rejected it on a cost basis: it is too expensive. But we can drop $30 billion, $40 billion, $50 billion into the Suburban Rail Loop. I will just note, Mr Mulholland, that I think it is overly pessimistic of you to suggest that the delivery date for the Suburban Rail Loop for the northern and western suburbs is fake, because we have actually been told in the west that we can feel confident that Werribee will be hooked up by 2070.
To put it on a less sarcastic note, by way of example, buses were promised in the 2024–25 budget for a new route 140 linking Mount Atkinson to Rockbank station, and that is yet to even commence – seriously, 18 months after the residents were told they were getting a new bus, amongst a veritable blaze of press releases.
How long does it take to operationalise a bus route? I get it if it is a new station, sure, but a bus route – a few signs, a few seats, some buses, some drivers. They are all potentially logistical issues, but 18 months and there is still no sign of the bus. A decent bus network would be transformative for the outer-western communities and would cost around $100 million a year to operate.
It is not much more than the cost of a month of free public transport for Melbourne, which was I think around $70 million or, let us say, three days worth of interest on the state debt.
Certainly improvements to our public transport system could be funded by any number of sources, including tax reform, and yes, it does need to be addressed. But then we also need to look pragmatically at the savings that can be made on other infrastructural needs like roads and highways if we actually have a working bus network, so this is a complex agenda.
We need to raise revenue, but we also need to recognise the real benefits not just environmentally but financially that a decent public transport system can offer. I do not think cost is necessarily the barrier, because this has been a long-term problem and something that could have been addressed at any time during Labor’s long tenure in government. I think it just ultimately comes down to a lack of priority and a lack of political will.
We support this motion from the Greens before the house. Members might recall that Legalise Cannabis moved a similar motion calling for free public transport not so long ago, but of course this was opposed by both the government and the opposition. In closing, I would just like to commend the motion to the chamber. It is thoughtful, it is appropriate, it is affordable and it is ultimately a profound social good.
[Council divided on motion]
Voted for: Katherine Copsey, David Ettershank, Anasina Gray-Barberio, Sarah Mansfield, Rachel Payne, Aiv Puglielli, Georgie Purcell
Voted against: Ryan Batchelor, Melina Bath, John Berger, Lizzie Blandthorn, Gaelle Broad, Georgie Crozier, David Davis, Moira Deeming, Enver Erdogan, Jacinta Ermacora, Michael Galea, Renee Heath, Ann-Marie Hermans, Shaun Leane, David Limbrick, Wendy Lovell, Trung Luu, Bev McArthur, Joe McCracken, Nick McGowan, Tom McIntosh, Evan Mulholland, Harriet Shing, Ingrid Stitt, Jaclyn Symes, Lee Tarlamis, Sonja Terpstra, Gayle Tierney, Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, Sheena Watt, Richard Welch
[Motion defeated 7 votes to 31]
