2015-11-12
Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) — There are a couple of problems that the state government is grappling with at the moment which ought to be self-evident to all members in this place. One is the rapid decline of the automobile manufacturing industry in Victoria; the other is the extraordinary amount of road congestion that is occurring. When you look at where that problem is at its greatest, you find it is in the outer suburbs and the new and growing fringes of Melbourne. We have an opportunity to fix both problems in one go by the government rapidly expanding the provision of bus services in outer suburban areas and, in the process, building up a bus manufacturing industry in Victoria.
Members might be interested to know that many of those who supply components, parts and materials to the auto industry also do so to the basic providers of rail, tram and bus manufacturers in Victoria. It is literally the same group of suppliers and in many cases the same group of employees providing to both. It would be amazing to see the state government make it a priority, with its healthy budget position that it frequently boasts about, to develop bus services in the outer suburbs in time for next May's budget and, in the process, creating a new manufacturing industry in Melbourne.
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