Constituency Question
Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (14:50): (306) My constituency question is to the Minister for Public Transport, and the question I ask is: will the government provide flexibility for rural bus operators with respect to the plans for all buses on the PTV network to be zero-emission vehicles by 2025? I met with a constituent last week who runs a small rural bus company, and they have got buses stored in five different towns. Only one of them is actually at a depot; the rest are generally stored overnight at a driver’s location or something similar. The opportunity therefore to charge electric buses in rural councils is very, very limited, and my constituent points out that even where that might be something they could do, the capacity of the power network to actually supply the required charging infrastructure may be limited. I am seeking from the minister flexibility for rural bus operators with the implementation of the policy by 2025.