NSW Labor ‘all-electric’ campaign bus ditched in favour of diesel alternative

The NSW Labor campaign has hit an unexpected hurdle, as its electric campaign bus died with travelling media and staffers on board.

Labor leader Chris Minns at Sydney’s inner-city Redfern Oval to pledge funding for Far West Rugby League. Picture: David Swift

State Labor leader Chris Minns’ election campaign ran out of juice days out from the NSW poll after his zero emissions bus was ditched in favour of a petrol-­guzzling alternative.

Mr Minns laughed off the mishap, saying he had failed to charge the personally branded, all-electrical vehicle overnight, after ALP staffers and the travelling press pack were forced to abandon it in Sydney’s west on Tuesday morning.

Travelling from Warragamba Dam, on Sydney’s western fringe, to another media event, staff ditched the electric bus after they realised a charging issue meant it did not have the necessary range, calling in a diesel-powered coach to complete the journey. “I forgot to charge it last night,” Mr Minns said. “As a result, it broke down.

The NSW Labor Party’s zero emissions campaign bus has been ditched. Picture: Gaye Gerard

“But bus or no bus, we are ready for the next four days.”

Plastered with party branding, the 12.5m vehicle has been operational only since last week, ferrying up to 46 passengers between media events. Because the bus has a range of 300km, Labor had already flagged the Australian-made vehicle would only be able to reach Kiama, just south of Sydney, as it needed to be charged every eight hours for between three and six hours.

Premier Dominic Perrottet leapt on the mileage mishap, linking the break down to Labor’s failure to include the price of their removal of the government’s public sector wage cap in the Parliamentary Budget Office’s costings released on Monday afternoon.

Coming to a bus stop near you. pic.twitter.com/8R4mOF0oac

— Chris Minns (@ChrisMinnsMP) March 13, 2023

“Look, it’s no, it’s no surprise to me that Labor’s bus has broken down, just like their budget broke down yesterday,” the Liberal Party leader said.

Mr Minns has touted the electric bus as evidencing two of his party’s key election pillars: pledging that a Labor state government will use domestic manufacturing to construct trains, ferries and buses in NSW; and boosting the uptake of electric vehicles.