Page 1530 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 June 2022
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down that figure, we are talking roughly half a million dollars per vehicle. At this stage, the Brisbane City Council are not telling us how much they paid for the first vehicle. Certainly, if you break down that total project cost, it is about half a million dollars per vehicle. The Liberal council certainly seems to be embracing electric buses much more robustly and much more rapidly than our Labor-Greens government here.
My briefing and onsite tour were done by Councillor Ryan Murphy, who is the chair of the Brisbane City Council’s transport committee. He was quoted in a recent ABC article—it is the only quote of his in this article—as saying:
We think that the Metro vehicle will actually set the model for how smaller and mid-sized cities can address public transport challenges in their jurisdictions, without the heavy cost and the years of construction that light rail causes …
That was his position. Peter was our bus driver for the day. He told me that the Metro vehicle is much easier to drive and much more manoeuvrable than a regular articulated bus. The Metro vehicles are able to be driven on all roads in Brisbane which currently have a green light for articulated buses to travel on.
I would note that buses in Brisbane function differently to ours. Most of the Metro buses will be driven on the extensive Brisbane busways. These are dedicated busways. But, as I mentioned earlier, they certainly have the ability to get off the busways and go out into the suburbs.
My trip to Brisbane was self-funded because, as we know, there is no travel allowance for non-executive members of this place. As such, I was not required to report back to the Assembly on my study trip. That is between me and the taxman. Nevertheless I think it is important to share this information.
I would hope that the transport minister, who is able to travel at taxpayers’ expense, could have a close look at what they are doing in Brisbane. There are potentially parts of the Brisbane plan that could be adopted here, in conjunction with things that we are already rolling out.
Specifically, I look forward to engaging more with the council in regard to the rollout of their fully electric bus depot. I know that we are having some problems here. I know that there are problems in Sydney with charging capacity for electric bus fleets. Let us look closely at what other jurisdictions are doing, because ultimately we are all heading to the same bus stop here. It is just that I actually bought my ticket.
Mrs Rosemary Lissimore—tribute
MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (4.48): I rise today to remember the life of Rosemary Lissimore, who sadly passed away earlier this year. I would like to express my sympathy to her loving husband, David, to whom Rosemary was married for almost 63 years. Her passing represents a great loss for the Tuggeranong community and the Brindabella electorate. It is the loss of an esteemed community member who served our community for many years with passion and devotion.
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