Thursday, 17 August 2023

Southern Metropolitan Region

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:36): (352) My constituency question is to the Minister for Public Transport. Minister, in the middle of a severe cost-of-living crisis the government raised Myki fares last month, increasing daily fares to $10. In my constituency Monash Uni postgrad students have raised with me that not only has the fare rise impacted students that were already struggling with costs but the postgraduate students face the unfair situation that they are ineligible for student travel concessions, unlike in New South Wales, where travel concessions are available for undergrad and postgrad tertiary students. At the time of announcing the fare rises the government said they:

… know that many Victorians are dealing with cost-of-living pressures.

… and we’ll continue to provide a range of discounts and concessions so that the cost of travel is fair for all Victorians.

Minister, given that statement, will you extend public transport concession fares to postgrad students, and if not, why not?