Geelong public transport
Darren CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (10:01): Mid last year the Allan Labor government was able to open the regional rail revival program for the Geelong region. This has seen much-needed investment in duplicating the rail line between the Marshall and Waurn Ponds train stations. It has seen a redevelopment of the Waurn Ponds train station, the Marshall train station and the Geelong train station, and importantly, it has improved the opportunity for people to catch a bus to these train stations and then obviously get onto the train and go off to Melbourne. This investment that was delivered by the Allan Labor government has made the Geelong commuter experience much, much better. I had the pleasure just last week of talking to a constituent in the queue at the supermarket, who was commenting that he is able to use the pedestrian and cycling trails to get to these train stations, which was a key part of the project. The last mile – or the first mile – is a very, very important investment that can be made when we invest in our public transport systems.