Tuesday, 2 December 2025

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (02:08): (2177) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Public and Active Transport, and it concerns the urgent need to improve local bus services and road safety in Meadow Heights. Minister, the action I seek of you is to act on the request made to you by Hume City Council recently regarding the dangerous bus stop at the intersection of Hudson Circuit and Paringa Boulevard. It is a topic that you might be familiar with, as it is one I have advocated to you from this place quite recently. I want to thank the Hume City Council for their productive discussions, particularly the mayor Carly Moore and Cr John Haddad. They have written to you outlining serious safety concerns at this location, and I strongly support their combined advocacy. This intersection is a key connector between two childcare centres, a shopping centre, ICMG Meadow Heights Mosque and Meadow Heights Primary School. It is also where my office is located, and many surrounding homes as well. According to the council, when a bus stops at these locations drivers move to overtake the bus at the roundabout entering into the roundabout, which has caused many frightening near misses and crashes as well, and local residents have been reporting incidents for far, far too long.

We see these issues every single day. We witness the congestion, the risky manoeuvres and the genuine frustration of residents who simply want a safe, reliable local bus network. This is exactly the type of safety upgrade in the north that should be able to be done. Communities like Meadow Heights unfortunately have been neglected for too long. I want to acknowledge the mayor Carly Moore and Hume City Council for their advocacy. They have been proactive, constructive and collaborative and have persisted in calling for bus stops like this one to be indented so that passengers and drivers have a clear thoroughfare into the roundabout at this dangerous intersection. So I ask you to seek the action of the Department of Transport and Planning to assess the situation and to meet with the council and me as well. This leadership stands in stark contrast to the inaction of this government.