Tuesday, 31 March 2026

 Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (12:54): (2270) My question is to the Minister for Public and Active Transport, and it relates to public transport connectivity at St Arnaud. St Arnaud is up in the Mallee. It is 2500 to 3000 people, but bus services are critical at the moment. I have had locals tell me that if they want to take a bus to either Ballarat or Bendigo, the timetable allows them to get there in one day but there are no return services, so they effectively have to stay overnight, which is insane. You have to literally book a hotel to stay over to go to Bendigo or Ballarat. My question to the minister is: will you look into this situation, and will you do anything about it, to ensure that my constituents are not left hanging out to dry in a situation they should never have been put in in the middle of a fuel crisis, when people are looking to public transport as opposed to paying for petrol and putting it in the car?