Steven Miles ignored expert panel advising against 50c fares
Former premier Steven Miles says he makes “no apologies” for bringing in the 50c fares policy despite an expert panel advising against a one-off solution focusing on price slashing alone.
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The former Labor government dismissed advice from an expert panel on long-term solutions to boosting public transport patronage in Queensland before launching its 50c fare campaign, it can be revealed.
The successful 50c fare initiative was to be trialled for six months at a cost of $150m from August however, then-premier Steven Miles declared the subsidy would be made permanent if he was re-elected following skyrocketing uptake rates of train, ferry, tram and bus services.
Documents obtained under Right to Information laws have now revealed Mr Miles had access to advice from an expert panel tasked with finding long-term solutions to the state’s public transport system ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
The Public Transport Fare Advisory Panel, created in 2019 under premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, was directed to find ways to boost public transport patronage and improve attitude towards services, including rolling out smart ticketing.
According to the documents, the panel advised the former government against a one-off solution focusing on price slashing alone, and developed a short list of fare incentives.
It included annual and monthly fare passes, free travel after two paid journeys, six paid journeys followed by free travel for the remainder of the week, weekend fare caps and monthly and annual travel passes for trips taken in zone 2.
Special fare prices for tourists and family rates were also options, with the panel explicitly recommending the government implement consistent annual increases based on either Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Government Indexation Rate (GIR) to help improve revenue stability for TMR.
The panel was due to meet with the government in the first half of 2024 to discuss its recommendations however, Mr Miles in May moved to announce his dream policy to slash all public transport fares to 50c.
Now Opposition Leader, Mr Miles said he was unapologetic about his choice to implement 50c fares.
“I make no apologies for delivering 50c fares for Queensland commuters,” he said.
“I consistently said during my time as premier that this is something I wanted to do for a long time.
“But I didn’t just implement them, I introduced a six-month trial which was an overwhelming success … (it) informed my government’s decision to make 50 cent fares permanent.”
Mr Miles challenged Premier David Crisafulli to “come clean” on whether he would keep his election promise and continue the 50c fare initiative.
“David Crisafulli has already broken seven promises since becoming Premier,” he said.
“He and his transport minister should come clean on whether he intends to break his promise to keep 50 cent fares.”
Premier David Crisafulli vowed to make the fare discount permanent during the October election.
Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said the government had made a clear election commitment to make the fares permanent. “We will honour it, including improving services, to the point where it’s in our 100-day plan,” he said.
The government will, as part of its 100-day plan, direct TMR to make the fares permanent by December 1.
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