Transport Matters is an Australian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. It is a party in

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

registered by the

Victorian Electoral Commission Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatu ...

on 30 April 2018, after an application was received by the VEC on 9 January 2018.

History

The party was co-founded by

Rod Barton Rod Barton is an Australian politician. He is the co-founder of the Transport Matters Party and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, representing the Eastern Metropolitan Region. He was elected in November 2018 but was not re-ele ...

and André Baruch, both hire car operators. Most of the party's members are taxi drivers or taxi licence owners involved in a

class action lawsuit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

against

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), packa ...

for loss of income between 2014 and 2017, when the company operated in Victoria as an

illegal taxicab operation Illegal taxicabs, sometimes known as pirate taxis, gypsy cabs, or jitney cabs, are taxicabs and other for-hire vehicles that are not duly licensed or permitted by the jurisdiction in which they operate. Most major cities worldwide require taxicabs ...

. Uber was legalised in Victoria in August 2017 following the deregulation of the taxi/ride-share industry in the state. In May 2019, more than 6,000 taxi and car-hire drivers, operators and licence owners across four states commenced the class action in the Victorian Supreme Court. Transport Matters was registered federally on 24 March 2020. However, the party was voluntarily de-registered federally on 16 December 2021, having never competed at a federal election.

Parliamentary Actions

The party was elected with the main goal of representing the taxi and hire car industry in Victoria after the commercial passenger vehicle industry was deregulated in 2017.

Policies

The party describes itself as possessing a centre-left policy agenda; in addition to the party's core focus on transport, the party also champions environmental issues and small business interests. The party has advocated for major transport projects including the East West Link, then

North East Link The North East Link is an under construction 26–kilometre tolled motorway scheme in Melbourne, Australia. Its stated objective is to connect the Metropolitan Ring Road at Greensborough with the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen, where the freeway ...

, the

West Gate Tunnel The West Gate Tunnel, originally known as the Western Distributor, is a four kilometre toll road currently under construction in Melbourne, Australia, to link the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville with the Port of Melbourne and CityLink at Dockl ...

, the

Suburban Rail Loop The Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) is a fully automated rapid transit system under construction in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The project would connect suburbs from the Central Business District (CBD) along an approximately corridor. The two ...

and a fully publicly owned Melbourne Airport rail line. The party's policy priorities include: * Commercial Passenger Vehicle Industry; * Addressing Homelessness; * Free Tram Zone; * Regional Bus Services; * Improving the Transport and Infrastructure Network; and * Public Transport.

Commercial Passenger Vehicle Industry

* Opposed to the

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

of the

vehicle for hire A vehicle for hire is a vehicle providing private transport or shared transport for a fee, in which passengers are generally free to choose their points or approximate points of origin and destination, unlike public transport, and which th ...

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choi ...

and hire car industry in Victoria. * That perpetual taxi and hire car licence holders in Victoria are fully compensated for the compulsory acquisition of their property (licences). * That Uber entered the Victorian industry illegally in 2017. * Improve driver income. * Introduce environmentally sustainable vehicle fleet. * Minimum ANCAP 5 Star safety rating for commercial passenger vehicles (CPVs). * Compulsory road worthy certificate required with license renewal. * Proof of insurance. * Identification on vehicle that you are a Commercial Passenger Vehicle. * That CPVs should be exempt from tolls.

Homelessness

* The party supports housing first as 'it is important that every Australian has access to safe, stable and affordable housing." * Additional crisis and transitional housing. * Additional resources including housing, social works and mental health workers. * Early intervention through the provision of additional wrap around services at the crisis and transitional housing stage. * Need for additional mental health nurses and psychologists.

Public Transport

* Public transport should be free for all passengers under the age of 18 or over the age of 65. * Should be free for full-time students. * Should be reduced for post-graduate students. * Victoria's Free Tram Zone should be extended to include major inner-city hospitals and academic precincts. * Provision of safe bike storage at every bus, train and tram stop. * Real time GPS information at every tram, train and bus stop. * A full review of the bus services in the outer suburbs should be conducted to improve the network.

Bicycle Infrastructure

* The party supports the 'One Meter apart' policy to protect cyclists from traffic. * Community consultation for the implementation of bike lanes. * Inclusion of mountain bike trails and bike parks in local council areas. * Educating young Australians on bike safety. * Supports the implementation of legislation to protect pedestrians injured by cyclists.

Other Areas

* Improving rural and regional towns ability to connect by looking into alternative bus network and public transport options. * Removing toll roads and making them publicly owned. * Increasing transparency between government departments and the public to improve outcomes. * Improving Australia's take up of electric and hydrogen vehicles and power.

Electoral history

Victoria State Election

At the 2018 Victorian state election, the party was the beneficiary of a highly convoluted series of preference flows in the

group voting ticket A group voting ticket (GVT) is a shortcut for voters in a preferential voting system, where a voter can indicate support for a list of candidates instead of marking preferences for individual candidates. For multi-member electoral divisions with s ...

for the Legislative Council organised by

Glenn Druery Glenn Druery is an Australian political strategist, electoral campaigner and ultra-distance cyclist. He has played a leading role in the electoral success of various micro and minor parties in Australia since the mid-1990s. He acquired a reputat ...

. With these beneficial preferences it was estimated that the party could get elected on less than 0.3% of the vote in the

Eastern Metropolitan Region North-Eastern Metropolitan Region, previously Eastern Metropolitan Region between 2006 and 2022, is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as t ...

. Ultimately, the party polled 0.62% of the vote and Barton was elected to the Legislative Council for a four-year term.

Political representatives

members of parliament

;Victoria *

–

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

, 2018–2022

References

External links

Transport Matters Party
official website of the Victorian party {{Political parties in Victoria (Australia) 2018 establishments in Australia Political parties established in 2018 Political parties in Victoria (Australia)