The Minns government has ruled out introducing free public transport for Sydney residents as petrol prices soar and leaders say the war on Iran will last “more than a month”.
NSW Transport Minister John Graham called for “nationally consistent approaches” after Victoria and Tasmania announced free public transport to encourage people to switch from driving to alleviate the surge in demand for fuel.
In a media conference on Sunday, Graham said other measures were needed. “The NSW government isn’t going down the path of free public transport for a couple of days or months.”
Peter Rae
“It’s millions of dollars every single day [of free public transport].
“This situation will last more than a month. We need to keep our powder dry to be able to assist the broader economy. We are really planning to make sure that we can make it through this next period.”
The use of public transport in Sydney has increased since the start of the war more than four weeks ago, and the metro system has recorded some of its busiest days. In the past three weeks, patronage is up 4.5 per cent on rail and metro and 3.7 per cent on buses.
Asked if the government would introduce extra train and bus services to meet mounting demand, Graham said it was examining patterns of use and that it was open to adjusting services and would “lift services where appropriate”.
Across NSW, there are 66 petrol stations entirely out of fuel, 375 without a fuel type normally in supply and 229 stations without diesel.
Emergency laws will be rushed into federal parliament on Monday in an urgent bid to boost Australia’s fuel stocks and importers will be given unprecedented government backing to scour the globe for increasingly rare and expensive shipments of petrol, diesel, crude oil and fertiliser.
NSW Minister for Youth Justice Jihad Dib urged motorists to “not panic” and to embrace their “best selves” amid the fuel crisis.
“We’ve got more fuel in the country today than a month ago. Distribution seems to be our problem,” he said on Sunday. “Please, don’t panic and don’t take more than what you need.
“I think we’ve got to be our best selves here. Consider other people, we don’t want to see people hoarding fuel.”
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Emily Kowal is an education reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
Mostafa Rachwani is a Parramatta reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously the Community Affairs reporter at Guardian Australia.Connect via email.
