Thursday, 29 May 2025

Constituency questions

Eastern Victoria Region

Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (12:51): (1611) My question is for the Minister for Public and Active Transport in the other place. Minister, how is the Allan Labor government improving public transport in Gippsland? Constituents in Eastern Victoria love V/Line and recently celebrated 20 years since the Bracks government reinstated rail through to Bairnsdale again after it was cut by those opposite – shamefully cut. The regional fare cap has been a smash-hit ever since it came into effect last year, delivering on the election commitment. There is a great deal of interest in the cap and the investment in V/Line. The fare cap complements the upgrades on the Gippsland line and in the metro network that benefit regional Victoria, and the recent announcement of 40-minute off-peak services to Traralgon are funded in this year’s budget. These upgrades have meant that people have had to be patient. I appreciate their frustration, but the benefits are starting to flow from the 20 years of investment to Gippsland, and of course visitors are coming from metropolitan Melbourne out into our regions.