Mr MORRIS (Mornington) (09:46:10): Last night during the adjournment debate I called on the Minister for Public Transport to meet with the three peninsula MPs in this house and Mornington Peninsula shire councillors in a bid to get the government to finally do something about local public transport.
This morning I tabled a petition bearing 472 signatures calling for improved bus services in the Mornington North Bungower Road precinct.
The area is home to two large retirement villages, Peninsula Grange and Beleura Village, also St Macartan’s Parish Primary School, and both new and established residential areas, yet there is no bus service east of the tourist railway line. Bus services in this part of my electorate have not changed since the area was a sea of paddocks. There were no services then and there are none now.
The area has been completely ignored by public transport planners and by the government. Public transport is a basic service, and it should be reasonably available to all citizens. Simply because you live in an area that was not developed 15 years ago does not mean you should be forced to make do without a bus service now.
The government’s failure to invest in even a basic peninsula-wide public transport service means the residents of this community are at risk of isolation, and unless they drive a car they are unable to access essential services and facilities in Mornington and beyond. The people of this community deserve better.
I call on the minister to take immediate action to provide a long overdue public transport service to the Bungower Road area of Mornington North.