Labor Promises $30 Weekly Cap on Victorian Public Transport Fares

Australia's governing Labor Party has promised to cap public transport fares in Victoria at $30 a week if it is re-elected. The state's premier, Ben Carroll, said on Monday that the fare cap would begin on 1 January.

According to Carroll, the cap would start the day after half-price fares end. The discounted fares were introduced after a period of free public transport in response to the fuel crisis sparked by the US-Iran war.

The premier said this is real cost-of-living relief that would help a regular commuter save $1,400 a year. Everyone can benefit, he said, but full-time workers will benefit most.

The government said the cap would cost $206 million and would run for two years, until December 2028.

At the same time, the government acknowledged that the cap is not sustainable in the long term, and said it would be funded through commonsense decisions to reduce spending in other areas.

Greens leader Ellen Sandell urged the government to go further and make public transport free. She said that after 12 years in government, Labor is only offering Victorians a temporary discount with an expiry date after the election.

Sandell added that people are sick of paying more and getting less, and need more frequent, reliable and accessible trains, trams and buses that they can actually depend on.

The commitment follows Labor's pledge on Sunday to cap road tolls at $30 per week for a year, saving drivers who regularly use them as much as $5,000. The Coalition had previously committed to a $50-a-week toll cap if elected in November.

Opposition leader Jess Wilson told reporters on Sunday that imitation is the best form of flattery. But she said Labor could not be trusted to lower tolls, given they had consistently increased them during their 12 years in government.

Wilson said Victorians are paying higher tolls today as a direct consequence of the decision-making of this Labor government, and that voters simply cannot trust the party, at five minutes to midnight, to reduce them.

Victoria is due to hold its election next month, and the rival cost-of-living promises on fares and tolls have become central to the campaign debate in the state.