Security fears over Chinese-made Brisbane buses dismissed as xenophobic

Brisbane’s council has brushed aside potential security concerns relating to Chinese-made electric buses in the city’s network, claiming a line of questions from political rivals was xenophobic.

Investigations into manufacturer Yutong were launched in countries including Norway and the United Kingdom this month amid reports its vehicles could be remotely switched off.

The ACT government also told this masthead on Thursday it had been investigating the security of its own fleet.

Brisbane’s fleet includes just four buses made by Chinese company Yutong, so even if they were remotely “bricked”, the impact on commuters would likely be minimal. Credit: ACT government

From well over 1200 public buses in Brisbane, just four – or about 0.3 per cent – are made by Yutong. They have run on the City Loop since 2021.

On Tuesday, Labor’s council opposition leader, Jared Cassidy, asked transport chair Andrew Wines if he had requested further information from the manufacturer when the overseas claims emerged.

“[Just because things are made in China] does not make them necessarily bad, nor does it make people who come from China bad, or the Chinese communities here in Brisbane worthy of criticism,” Wines retorted.

“I think it is completely unfair to make that inference.

“I assure all councillors, and all residents of Brisbane, I’m not involved in espionage in any way.

“Not everybody in our community embraces renewable technology or embraces the threat of climate change, and Councillor Cassidy numbers himself among those people because here he is clearly fighting electric vehicles.”

Many petrol and electric vehicles, including mainstream brands such as Tesla and Volkswagen, are connected to the internet to enable “over-the-air” software updates.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner.Credit: Cameron Atfield

Security concerns have been raised for years, but there is no evidence that Yutong has tried to interfere with the operation of its vehicles. There is also no suggestion the buses could be remotely controlled, or their cameras accessed.

When first trialled, the Brisbane buses were described as similar to those in the ACT. Transport Canberra said it was investigating its fleet out of an abundance of caution, but it understood the vehicles were a different model to those under scrutiny overseas.

“[We] have commenced further investigation and are working with the local distributor … on actively assessing the validity of these reports,” a spokesperson said.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner clarified that if further concerns emerged, the impact on commuters would probably be negligible.

“I’m relieved to hear that Councillor Wines is not engaged in espionage,” he told the chamber.

“If there was a problem with four City Loop buses, theoretically, what would we do? Would the city grind to a halt? No, we’d find four other buses to replace them immediately and it’d be fine.”

Yutong, which has operated for decades, claims to have exported about 110,000 buses to more than 100 countries.

The buses trialled in Brisbane included air-conditioning and on-board phone charging. They could reportedly run for a full day on a single charge.

The company did not respond to a request for comment. It told British newspapers at the start of November it “strictly complies with the applicable laws, regulations and industry standards of the locations where its vehicles operate”.

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