Mr J. BULL (Sunbury) — I am very pleased to be able to contribute to the debate on the Road Management Amendment (Bus Stop Delivery Powers) Bill 2016, and it is good to see that so many members have come into the house to hear my contribution. Before I speak on the bill, I will just say that I listened to the contribution of the shadow Minister for Public Transport, who failed to mention that it was the former government that established Public Transport Victoria (PTV), which made the changes in today’s bill necessary. Listening to the community about public transport is something that I believe this government has done extraordinarily well since coming into office, and it is something that I believe was lacking wholeheartedly over the last four years from those on the other side.

This is fairly minor amendment, as members have mentioned, but it is obviously nonetheless a very important one that we need to deal with, which is what the bill before the house today is all about. Before I go to the exact details of the bill, I just want to talk about the bus network in my electorate and also the network more broadly. It is also very good to see the Minister for Public Transport in the house. Buses do play a very important role in public transport, and I certainly know that the minister has been extraordinarily pleased to work with me in improving local bus services for the Sunbury community. Both Sunbury Bus Service and of course the Tullamarine Bus Lines run outstanding services for the Sunbury community, and they obviously do their very best to get people to and from home, school, work and leisure activities.

Since coming to office I have had the great pleasure of meeting with representatives of both Tullamarine Bus Lines and Sunbury Bus Service to discuss important matters regarding what they see in the future of buses for the electorate. Just a couple of weeks ago I also met a very lovely gentlemen from Tullamarine, who was keen to see services improved in the Tullamarine area. He discussed services 477, 478 and 482 with me. I think what becomes apparent, and I note that other members of the house have also discussed this this afternoon, is that, especially for those who do not drive a car and for those who live some distance from a train station, buses become even more important. I certainly know that the $100 million bus review and all of the work that Public Transport Victoria and the minister’s office are doing in this space are incredibly vital for those people, especially for those that are more elderly, for them to be able to access buses, to get to and from the shops or to go and see family and friends. I think that these things are incredibly important, and I know that many members on the other side of the house have also mentioned this today.

On top of this we need to consider growth. It is important to look at the future of my area and also that of the north — and I note that the member for Broadmeadows is nodding as well — and look at the northern growth corridor and the considerable amount of growth that is happening, which is the fourth highest level of growth nationally. It is happening all up in that northern growth corridor, which you see when you head north along Mickleham Road. It is the member for Yukoke’s area, and it is a great place that is certainly growing. Sunbury is also going to experience that growth as we go forward.

I know that the member for Yuroke is also very determined, along with me, the member for Broadmeadows and the member for Macedon, to see bus services be the very best they can be. So if we consider the growth in the area, what we need to be looking at is that constant consultation with the community to say that once these greenfield sites are developed and once areas are experiencing growth in housing, we need to ensure that our bus networks cater for the needs of those communities. We know that with this population growth the additional pressures certainly build as we move forward.

The bill before the house today will give PTV the specific powers it needs to deliver on the government’s commitments. It will do this by enabling PTV to lawfully designate bus stopping points and install or modify bus stop infrastructure. It will also eliminate the risk of future compensation claims by validating unlawful actions taken by PTV to designate bus stopping points and install or modify bus stop infrastructure when it did not have the legal authority to do so between 2 April 2012 and 30 September 2015.

We know that this amendment has arisen as the management and implementation of bus stops is currently covered under the Transport Legislation Miscellaneous Amendments Act 2009, which amended the Road Management Act 2004 to give the Secretary to the then Department of Transport the power to install, remove and relocate bus stop infrastructure and bus stopping points.

This is obviously quite a minor amendment but certainly a very important one that is before the house. It is fair to say that bus stops create a great deal of discussion within the community in terms of their location. If you are someone like the person I mentioned before who catches the bus quite frequently, you certainly do want a bus stop close to you. If you are someone who relies primarily on your car or other modes of transport, you may not want a bus stop close to your place given the fact that there can be extra noise, congestion and those types of things. It is very interesting when you talk to the community about bus stops.

Honourable members interjecting.

Mr J. BULL — It is very polarising, member for Yuroke, in terms of where they are located. But I think when you put to the individual that the public transport network needs to be there for the entire community, I think most people are very reasonable in understanding that bus stops play such an important role in terms of the multimode public transport network that we have in Victoria. Certainly it is a public transport network that is experiencing the pressures of growth, but I am very pleased with this government’s commitment with Metro and with removing the 50 most congested and dangerous level crossings. I genuinely believe the Metro project is a 1-in-100-year project that will transform the grid for many, many years to come and for generations beyond that. It is something that I am very pleased with.

I am also very pleased to see that significant progress has been made with bus routes in my electorate. If I draw on the meeting that I had a couple of weeks ago with that gentleman from Tullamarine, I know there has been great progress in assisting him in getting a meeting with Public Transport Victoria to get the very best service that is on offer and also in making sure that we are listening, supporting and assisting members of the community in getting them to and from their daily business.

I mentioned designated bus stopping points and also the infrastructure around them. There are obviously a number of processes that we go through with PTV, and this legislation before us today is all about making sure that the PTV has the legal authority to be able to allow bus stops to be planned, which is the first stage of the process. Then there is the physical site selection, so identifying where the bus stop goes, and this information is then fed back into the system to have a look at the very best possible bus route. Obviously what we hope and what PTV endeavours to do is to ensure that that matches up with local train services and also takes into consideration the working hours of the community to ensure that we are getting the very best efficiency within the service.

The next stage of the process is notification, so letters are sent out to residents to let them know that the bus stop will be put into their area. They will receive a letter. They can then go on from there to consider what that will mean for their daily lives in terms of traffic, noise, congestion and all of those things, and there is a pathway whereby they can write back to PTV and identify if they have any concerns about that.

This is a minor amendment, but as I have said it is an important one. I am very pleased that the opposition is not opposing it. We are building a world-class public transport system for long-term viability. I commend the bill to the house.