Sorry, there are only 12 electric buses on the road at present, and not this one. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Labor called it a stunt. But the Canberra Liberals’ “ghost buses” taunt in the Legislative Assembly this week will resonate with many Canberrans who have seen the “106 electric buses” livery in their travels and wondered where they are.
Well, 90 of them are on their way, “procured” and “secured”, as Acting Transport Minister Tara Cheyne said.
And the Libs know that.
But details matter, particularly in an election year when all parties will be looking for openings to attack their opponents.
It’s clear the Liberals will exploit sitting weeks in the lead-up to the election to expose the government as much as possible, highlight its alternative approaches and build a narrative.
So expect more ‘stunts’.
Complaining about it or how the Liberals may be wasting the Assembly’s time is neither here nor there. Guess what? It’s politics.
The problem for the government is that it, or Transport Canberra, has been too clever by half in getting ahead of itself before all the electric buses are in the fleet and running around town.
The Greens aren’t impressed with the delay, either. Photo: Ian Bushnell. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Most people aren’t up with procurement timetables, delivery dates or setbacks. When they see 106 electric buses, they will think that many are in service, and the government would not want to disavow them of that belief.
Misleading propaganda? Possibly.
Even the four Custom Denning buses that arrived last year haven’t made it onto our roads due to technical problems. They’re back now from repairs in Sydney, and hopefully, we’ll see them on the road soon.
But it took a while for the community to hear about it.
Any kind of procurement is fraught at present, and the Liberals’ claim that they will somehow be able to do it better should be taken with a grain of salt, but that’s their right as an Opposition.
They believe they are on a winner with their electric buses public transport policy and will take every opportunity to point out the government’s shortcomings.
Labor’s coalition partners, the Greens, were no help. They joined the pile on.
Transport spokesperson Jo Clay expressed her party’s disappointment that more electric buses weren’t being put on the road as quickly as promised.
“I want to put on the record that we have not met targets set for the number of electric buses on the road,” she said.
“It’s true, and we want to make sure that we are telling history as it is.”
Perhaps a little revenge for the way Labor dismissed the Greens’ rent freeze proposal?
The onus is on the government to get it right and take responsibility – that’s what being in power is all about.
Too many governments have become addicted to spin and weasel words, instead of being upfront with the community.
It may work for a while, but it always comes back to bite them.
The ghost buses jibe may haunt the government come October when public transport will be a battleground issue.
This week’s experience should convince it to forget the spin and, in this case, get the buses here as soon as possible.
And not to let the Liberals have too many cheap wins and put them on a roll that may be hard to stop.
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