Tuesday, 12 May 2026

 Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (14:34): (1630) My question is for the Minister for Public and Active Transport. Can the minister confirm whether the recently announced V/Line services are genuinely new or simply carriages stripped from existing trains and cobbled together as a pre-election promise? Regional Victorians deserve the truth. A work experience student in my office, Max Weeks, had to be driven 2½ hours from Benalla to Melbourne because there were no train seats available for him. Charlotte, another Benalla local, was left stranded in Seymour for several hours because she could not get on one of the replacement buses. It gets worse. An elderly constituent living with chronic pain had to cancel her pain specialist treatments because she could no longer reserve a priority seat, and another one had to cancel his wife’s neurologist appointment – she lives with MS – because no guaranteed seats were available. If this rolling stock is available, the government is simply choosing not to deploy it. Can the minister explain why regional Victorians are being left stranded at stations and paying hundreds of dollars more?

The SPEAKER: Before I call the next member, member for Euroa, you asked the minister to confirm and then to explain. Both are actions. Can you rephrase your question to make it a question?

Annabelle CLEELAND: Will the minister explain whether the recently announced V/Line services are genuinely new or simply being stripped from other services?