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Barton slams Victorian transport body change

The Victorian politician says the new plans for an independent transport body fall short of the mark

After campaigning to Victorian state parliament about the need for an independent transport body, politician Rod Barton says the new plans for the regulator lacks any depth.

The state government released further information about the commercial passenger vehicle regulator to be named Safe Transport Victoria, as it acts as a merge between Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria (CPVV) and Transport Safety Victoria.

Barton says a vison for the future, a strategic plan and industry priorities weren’t mentioned in the announcement, as he says that the merger appears to be nothing more than a change of name.

The politician says it falls short of the serious reform required by the state, as it will only act as the regulator’s fourth name change in just 10 years.

“Clearly, there is something fundamentally wrong with the commercial passenger vehicle regulator,” Barton says.

The state government also decided to bring the CPVV’s current senior leadership over to the new regulator in a move that Barton says is a surprise.

“The regulator has long had a fractured relationship with the industry,” Barton says.

“This is after years of policy that simultaneously fails to regulate commercial operators and drivers while also crippling them with unjustified and unnecessary bureaucracy.”


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Barton says there are many issues in the CPVV, including data management, the mismanagement of the multi-purpose taxi program and current VCAT fights against document releases.

Barton says the merger is a wasted opportunity to draw a line in the sand and begin rebuilding relationships between industry and the regulator.

“I know the industry is disappointed in this decision by the government – they were hopeful that this merger would mean a new team of leaders passionate about fixing the industry, but we have all been let down,” Barton says.

“We will not be taken for idiots. There needs to be some serious reform before the regulator can mend its relationship with the industry.”

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