Tuesday, 13 May 2025

Hastings electorate

Paul MERCURIO (Hastings) (14:50): (1105) My question is to the Minister for Public and Active Transport. What is the next step in delivering the cross-peninsula bus service to my community? Standing on the polling booths over the last 2½ weeks, I spoke to many of my constituents about a whole range of issues, and the most common questions were ‘Are we ever going to get a bus service direct to Mornington?’ and ‘What is happening with the cross-peninsula bus service?’ I received funding in the 2023 budget for planning and community consultation for how the cross-peninsula bus service might look. In the 2024 budget I received money for infrastructure for the bus service, such as bus stops et cetera. My constituents are very keen to understand what the next step will be, and quite frankly, they are all looking forward to catching a bus from Hastings to Mornington or Mornington to Hastings and it only taking 30 to 40 minutes instead of 2 hours. We all look forward to the minister’s answer.