Public transport ticket upgrade runs late, over budget
Commuters will be waiting even longer to tap on and off public transport with phones and credit cards as a ticketing system overhaul falters.
Buried deep within Tuesday's 2025/26 Victorian budget, the Labor government revealed an upgrade of the state's myki system would be delivered over time and budget.
It was announced in February train passengers would be able to travel with bank cards and their phones from 2026, with 22,000 myki readers to be replaced across the network.
But the budget papers showed the replacement ticket reader program will take up to 18 months longer to finish and cost an extra $137 million.
The project was costed at $543.6 million in the last budget but the figure has blown out to $680.4 million following a "program reset".
The completion date has also shifted from mid-2027 to late 2028 after the finalisation of ticketing reader design requirements for some trams.
New Jersey-based company Conduent was awarded a $1.7 billion to overhaul and operate the myki system for the next 15 years.
NSW's Opal system has allowed passengers to tap on and off with their bank card or their phone since 2019 and ticketless travel is available on most of Queensland's network.
Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin scoffed at the delay.
"We'll be the last state in the world that you can use a phone to tap on," he said.
"If you go to Japan, if you go to New York, if you go England ... you can travel and use your phone."
The Allan government maintained Victorians would be able to touch on with their credit cards, smartphones and watches from early 2026, saying the changes were part of a staged rollout.
"We want to do this once and do it right, learning from experiences overseas and in other states," a government spokesman said.
Treasurer Jaclyn Symes will begin to sell her first budget on Wednesday at a business event in Melbourne.
The budget spruiked a $2.3 billion cost-of-living package, record health spending, no new taxes and a return to a $600 million operating surplus next financial year.
But net debt is on track to hit $194 billion by 2028/29, sending interest repayments soaring close to $29 million a day.
Ms Symes called it a "responsible budget" but it hasn't received an overly warm reception from business, property and development groups.
"While we welcome no new taxes and the operating surplus, the incentives to grow and propel the private sector are modest," Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said.
Commuters will be waiting even longer to tap on and off public transport with phones and credit cards as a ticketing system overhaul falters.
Buried deep within Tuesday's 2025/26 Victorian budget, the Labor government revealed an upgrade of the state's myki system would be delivered over time and budget.
It was announced in February train passengers would be able to travel with bank cards and their phones from 2026, with 22,000 myki readers to be replaced across the network.
But the budget papers showed the replacement ticket reader program will take up to 18 months longer to finish and cost an extra $137 million.
The project was costed at $543.6 million in the last budget but the figure has blown out to $680.4 million following a "program reset".
The completion date has also shifted from mid-2027 to late 2028 after the finalisation of ticketing reader design requirements for some trams.
New Jersey-based company Conduent was awarded a $1.7 billion to overhaul and operate the myki system for the next 15 years.
NSW's Opal system has allowed passengers to tap on and off with their bank card or their phone since 2019 and ticketless travel is available on most of Queensland's network.
Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin scoffed at the delay.
"We'll be the last state in the world that you can use a phone to tap on," he said.
"If you go to Japan, if you go to New York, if you go England ... you can travel and use your phone."
The Allan government maintained Victorians would be able to touch on with their credit cards, smartphones and watches from early 2026, saying the changes were part of a staged rollout.
"We want to do this once and do it right, learning from experiences overseas and in other states," a government spokesman said.
Treasurer Jaclyn Symes will begin to sell her first budget on Wednesday at a business event in Melbourne.
The budget spruiked a $2.3 billion cost-of-living package, record health spending, no new taxes and a return to a $600 million operating surplus next financial year.
But net debt is on track to hit $194 billion by 2028/29, sending interest repayments soaring close to $29 million a day.
Ms Symes called it a "responsible budget" but it hasn't received an overly warm reception from business, property and development groups.
"While we welcome no new taxes and the operating surplus, the incentives to grow and propel the private sector are modest," Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said.
Commuters will be waiting even longer to tap on and off public transport with phones and credit cards as a ticketing system overhaul falters.
Buried deep within Tuesday's 2025/26 Victorian budget, the Labor government revealed an upgrade of the state's myki system would be delivered over time and budget.
It was announced in February train passengers would be able to travel with bank cards and their phones from 2026, with 22,000 myki readers to be replaced across the network.
But the budget papers showed the replacement ticket reader program will take up to 18 months longer to finish and cost an extra $137 million.
The project was costed at $543.6 million in the last budget but the figure has blown out to $680.4 million following a "program reset".
The completion date has also shifted from mid-2027 to late 2028 after the finalisation of ticketing reader design requirements for some trams.
New Jersey-based company Conduent was awarded a $1.7 billion to overhaul and operate the myki system for the next 15 years.
NSW's Opal system has allowed passengers to tap on and off with their bank card or their phone since 2019 and ticketless travel is available on most of Queensland's network.
Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin scoffed at the delay.
"We'll be the last state in the world that you can use a phone to tap on," he said.
"If you go to Japan, if you go to New York, if you go England ... you can travel and use your phone."
The Allan government maintained Victorians would be able to touch on with their credit cards, smartphones and watches from early 2026, saying the changes were part of a staged rollout.
"We want to do this once and do it right, learning from experiences overseas and in other states," a government spokesman said.
Treasurer Jaclyn Symes will begin to sell her first budget on Wednesday at a business event in Melbourne.
The budget spruiked a $2.3 billion cost-of-living package, record health spending, no new taxes and a return to a $600 million operating surplus next financial year.
But net debt is on track to hit $194 billion by 2028/29, sending interest repayments soaring close to $29 million a day.
Ms Symes called it a "responsible budget" but it hasn't received an overly warm reception from business, property and development groups.
"While we welcome no new taxes and the operating surplus, the incentives to grow and propel the private sector are modest," Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said.
Commuters will be waiting even longer to tap on and off public transport with phones and credit cards as a ticketing system overhaul falters.
Buried deep within Tuesday's 2025/26 Victorian budget, the Labor government revealed an upgrade of the state's myki system would be delivered over time and budget.
It was announced in February train passengers would be able to travel with bank cards and their phones from 2026, with 22,000 myki readers to be replaced across the network.
But the budget papers showed the replacement ticket reader program will take up to 18 months longer to finish and cost an extra $137 million.
The project was costed at $543.6 million in the last budget but the figure has blown out to $680.4 million following a "program reset".
The completion date has also shifted from mid-2027 to late 2028 after the finalisation of ticketing reader design requirements for some trams.
New Jersey-based company Conduent was awarded a $1.7 billion to overhaul and operate the myki system for the next 15 years.
NSW's Opal system has allowed passengers to tap on and off with their bank card or their phone since 2019 and ticketless travel is available on most of Queensland's network.
Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin scoffed at the delay.
"We'll be the last state in the world that you can use a phone to tap on," he said.
"If you go to Japan, if you go to New York, if you go England ... you can travel and use your phone."
The Allan government maintained Victorians would be able to touch on with their credit cards, smartphones and watches from early 2026, saying the changes were part of a staged rollout.
"We want to do this once and do it right, learning from experiences overseas and in other states," a government spokesman said.
Treasurer Jaclyn Symes will begin to sell her first budget on Wednesday at a business event in Melbourne.
The budget spruiked a $2.3 billion cost-of-living package, record health spending, no new taxes and a return to a $600 million operating surplus next financial year.
But net debt is on track to hit $194 billion by 2028/29, sending interest repayments soaring close to $29 million a day.
Ms Symes called it a "responsible budget" but it hasn't received an overly warm reception from business, property and development groups.
"While we welcome no new taxes and the operating surplus, the incentives to grow and propel the private sector are modest," Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said.
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The community independent movement did not begin in Sydney or Melbourne, but in the bush. It was in the rural Victorian seat of Indi, encompassing Wodonga and Wangaratta, that independent Cathy McGowan was drafted by community group Voices of Indi. In 2013, McGowan delivered the Liberal Party its only loss when she won the formerly safe seat from Sophie Mirabella. The subsequent success of inner city "teals" - community independents like Zali Steggall, Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney - is evidence that Liberal neglect of classical-liberal and metropolitan voters has come back to haunt them. But soul searching is due in the bush as well, particularly among Nationals. So far, they have been criticised for unforced errors (like quitting the Liberal-National Coalition only to rejoin it days later) rather than structural weaknesses, like their preference of mining interests over agricultural ones and their inability to win back seats lost since the 1990s. 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And while it is mostly the Liberals who have lost seats, the Nationals have re-attached to the Coalition, which means their future relevance depends on the Liberals recovering 30-odd seats, and the Nationals winning a couple themselves off Labor - something the Nationals haven't managed to do since 2013. Once, National candidates could promise their electorate a voice in the government. With that looking a long way away, it is now independent and minor party candidates who can promise relevance: starting national debates, probing the government in question time and perhaps being at the heart of negotiations in the event of a future power-sharing Parliament. If the Nats are not interested in serving the interests of those in rural and regional Australia, they will find no shortage of "tans" willing to throw their Akubras in the ring. The community independent movement did not begin in Sydney or Melbourne, but in the bush. It was in the rural Victorian seat of Indi, encompassing Wodonga and Wangaratta, that independent Cathy McGowan was drafted by community group Voices of Indi. In 2013, McGowan delivered the Liberal Party its only loss when she won the formerly safe seat from Sophie Mirabella. The subsequent success of inner city "teals" - community independents like Zali Steggall, Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney - is evidence that Liberal neglect of classical-liberal and metropolitan voters has come back to haunt them. But soul searching is due in the bush as well, particularly among Nationals. So far, they have been criticised for unforced errors (like quitting the Liberal-National Coalition only to rejoin it days later) rather than structural weaknesses, like their preference of mining interests over agricultural ones and their inability to win back seats lost since the 1990s. Conditions are ripe for the Nationals to face challenges from independents on the same scale as those already faced by the Liberals. And while Indi's "Voices of" model of community organising and drafting candidates was an innovation, the country has long been friendly to independents. Father of the House of Representatives Bob Katter is a rural independent, as were Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, who negotiated minority government with Julia Gillard in 2010. Windsor and Oakeshott sat in the NSW Parliament before the jump to Commonwealth politics, and today the NSW crossbench boasts 10 independent MPs, mostly from regional and rural parts of the state. Many independent-held NSW seats overlap with federal seats held by Nationals (like Riverina and Parkes) or regional Liberals (like Farrer and Hume). And at the last two federal elections, independent candidates have turned National and Liberal-National seats like Cowper and Groom marginal. There is a perception that the junior National Party has been the tail wagging the dog, with the Liberals taking up the obsessions of National MPs - in particular nuclear energy. And while Coalition Governments dutifully "pork-barrelled" public money for safe regional seats, they neglected apparently safe urban seats held by Liberals. This helps explain why Liberals now hold mostly regional and rural seats, and barely exists in the inner-city. But big spending programs disguise how country interests have become diluted. Being in Coalition with the Liberal Party has weakened the ability of the National Party to advocate forcefully for the interests of those in regional and rural Australia. Famously, former National leader Michael McCormack could not name one time the Nationals had taken the side of farmers over that of miners. Similarly, in the last Coalition government, Nationals spruiked and voted for Scott Morrison's original stage three tax cuts - even though Nationals electorates had the least to gain. When the Albanese Labor government reformed stage three, the biggest winners were Australians living in Nationals seats. Regional and rural areas would benefit from increased public spending on education, health, public transport and infrastructure; all of which are harder to fund after the tax cuts eagerly pursued by Liberal-National governments. They are most at risk from climate change, and bear the brunt of disasters amplified by a warming earth. Independents like Cathy McGowan, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor have recognised this, as have those running in more recent elections like Helen Haines. It is true that the Nationals still hold about as many lower house seats today as they did at the height of the Howard Coalition Government, and many are still nominally safe seats. But in recent elections, both Liberal and Labor Party MPs have learned the hard way that there is no such thing as a safe seat against the right challenger. Australia Institute research shows Australians are unique among Western democracies in their willingness to elect independents. Regional challengers to the major parties will not be cut from the same cloth as community independents in the cities, the so-called "teals". Regional and rural Australians have responded to somewhat different arguments, from somewhat different candidates. We could call these candidates "tans" - from the colour of their pants, and because it is "Nat" in reverse. Of course, none of this is predestined - nor was the Liberal Party doomed to veer to the right and leave behind moderate and classically liberal voters. These are the result of choices made by voters, by party rank-and-file and by elected representatives. A couple of weeks ago, the Nationals made a choice - to quit the Coalition - which suggested a willingness to rethink the old saws. Unfortunately, the reason was not to give the Nationals freedom to consider new ways of representing the country, but to allow them to hold onto failed policies like nuclear power. These policies failed to resonate with voters. And the united front of Liberals and Nationals held back rural candidates. Mia Davies, former leader of the WA Nationals (a more independently minded branch than those in NSW or Victoria) and a candidate in the federal election, thought her job was made harder by the opposition of Liberal shadow ministers to Labor's resources production tax credit scheme. READ MORE: What Angus Taylor called "billions for billionaires", Davies called "good policy". But Davies was a rare Coalition candidate who went against the party line. The effect is a decimated Liberal-National Coalition. And while it is mostly the Liberals who have lost seats, the Nationals have re-attached to the Coalition, which means their future relevance depends on the Liberals recovering 30-odd seats, and the Nationals winning a couple themselves off Labor - something the Nationals haven't managed to do since 2013. Once, National candidates could promise their electorate a voice in the government. With that looking a long way away, it is now independent and minor party candidates who can promise relevance: starting national debates, probing the government in question time and perhaps being at the heart of negotiations in the event of a future power-sharing Parliament. If the Nats are not interested in serving the interests of those in rural and regional Australia, they will find no shortage of "tans" willing to throw their Akubras in the ring. The community independent movement did not begin in Sydney or Melbourne, but in the bush. It was in the rural Victorian seat of Indi, encompassing Wodonga and Wangaratta, that independent Cathy McGowan was drafted by community group Voices of Indi. In 2013, McGowan delivered the Liberal Party its only loss when she won the formerly safe seat from Sophie Mirabella. The subsequent success of inner city "teals" - community independents like Zali Steggall, Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney - is evidence that Liberal neglect of classical-liberal and metropolitan voters has come back to haunt them. But soul searching is due in the bush as well, particularly among Nationals. So far, they have been criticised for unforced errors (like quitting the Liberal-National Coalition only to rejoin it days later) rather than structural weaknesses, like their preference of mining interests over agricultural ones and their inability to win back seats lost since the 1990s. Conditions are ripe for the Nationals to face challenges from independents on the same scale as those already faced by the Liberals. And while Indi's "Voices of" model of community organising and drafting candidates was an innovation, the country has long been friendly to independents. Father of the House of Representatives Bob Katter is a rural independent, as were Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, who negotiated minority government with Julia Gillard in 2010. Windsor and Oakeshott sat in the NSW Parliament before the jump to Commonwealth politics, and today the NSW crossbench boasts 10 independent MPs, mostly from regional and rural parts of the state. Many independent-held NSW seats overlap with federal seats held by Nationals (like Riverina and Parkes) or regional Liberals (like Farrer and Hume). And at the last two federal elections, independent candidates have turned National and Liberal-National seats like Cowper and Groom marginal. There is a perception that the junior National Party has been the tail wagging the dog, with the Liberals taking up the obsessions of National MPs - in particular nuclear energy. And while Coalition Governments dutifully "pork-barrelled" public money for safe regional seats, they neglected apparently safe urban seats held by Liberals. This helps explain why Liberals now hold mostly regional and rural seats, and barely exists in the inner-city. But big spending programs disguise how country interests have become diluted. Being in Coalition with the Liberal Party has weakened the ability of the National Party to advocate forcefully for the interests of those in regional and rural Australia. Famously, former National leader Michael McCormack could not name one time the Nationals had taken the side of farmers over that of miners. Similarly, in the last Coalition government, Nationals spruiked and voted for Scott Morrison's original stage three tax cuts - even though Nationals electorates had the least to gain. When the Albanese Labor government reformed stage three, the biggest winners were Australians living in Nationals seats. Regional and rural areas would benefit from increased public spending on education, health, public transport and infrastructure; all of which are harder to fund after the tax cuts eagerly pursued by Liberal-National governments. They are most at risk from climate change, and bear the brunt of disasters amplified by a warming earth. Independents like Cathy McGowan, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor have recognised this, as have those running in more recent elections like Helen Haines. It is true that the Nationals still hold about as many lower house seats today as they did at the height of the Howard Coalition Government, and many are still nominally safe seats. But in recent elections, both Liberal and Labor Party MPs have learned the hard way that there is no such thing as a safe seat against the right challenger. Australia Institute research shows Australians are unique among Western democracies in their willingness to elect independents. Regional challengers to the major parties will not be cut from the same cloth as community independents in the cities, the so-called "teals". Regional and rural Australians have responded to somewhat different arguments, from somewhat different candidates. We could call these candidates "tans" - from the colour of their pants, and because it is "Nat" in reverse. Of course, none of this is predestined - nor was the Liberal Party doomed to veer to the right and leave behind moderate and classically liberal voters. These are the result of choices made by voters, by party rank-and-file and by elected representatives. A couple of weeks ago, the Nationals made a choice - to quit the Coalition - which suggested a willingness to rethink the old saws. Unfortunately, the reason was not to give the Nationals freedom to consider new ways of representing the country, but to allow them to hold onto failed policies like nuclear power. These policies failed to resonate with voters. And the united front of Liberals and Nationals held back rural candidates. Mia Davies, former leader of the WA Nationals (a more independently minded branch than those in NSW or Victoria) and a candidate in the federal election, thought her job was made harder by the opposition of Liberal shadow ministers to Labor's resources production tax credit scheme. READ MORE: What Angus Taylor called "billions for billionaires", Davies called "good policy". But Davies was a rare Coalition candidate who went against the party line. The effect is a decimated Liberal-National Coalition. And while it is mostly the Liberals who have lost seats, the Nationals have re-attached to the Coalition, which means their future relevance depends on the Liberals recovering 30-odd seats, and the Nationals winning a couple themselves off Labor - something the Nationals haven't managed to do since 2013. Once, National candidates could promise their electorate a voice in the government. With that looking a long way away, it is now independent and minor party candidates who can promise relevance: starting national debates, probing the government in question time and perhaps being at the heart of negotiations in the event of a future power-sharing Parliament. If the Nats are not interested in serving the interests of those in rural and regional Australia, they will find no shortage of "tans" willing to throw their Akubras in the ring. The community independent movement did not begin in Sydney or Melbourne, but in the bush. It was in the rural Victorian seat of Indi, encompassing Wodonga and Wangaratta, that independent Cathy McGowan was drafted by community group Voices of Indi. In 2013, McGowan delivered the Liberal Party its only loss when she won the formerly safe seat from Sophie Mirabella. The subsequent success of inner city "teals" - community independents like Zali Steggall, Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney - is evidence that Liberal neglect of classical-liberal and metropolitan voters has come back to haunt them. But soul searching is due in the bush as well, particularly among Nationals. So far, they have been criticised for unforced errors (like quitting the Liberal-National Coalition only to rejoin it days later) rather than structural weaknesses, like their preference of mining interests over agricultural ones and their inability to win back seats lost since the 1990s. Conditions are ripe for the Nationals to face challenges from independents on the same scale as those already faced by the Liberals. And while Indi's "Voices of" model of community organising and drafting candidates was an innovation, the country has long been friendly to independents. Father of the House of Representatives Bob Katter is a rural independent, as were Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, who negotiated minority government with Julia Gillard in 2010. Windsor and Oakeshott sat in the NSW Parliament before the jump to Commonwealth politics, and today the NSW crossbench boasts 10 independent MPs, mostly from regional and rural parts of the state. Many independent-held NSW seats overlap with federal seats held by Nationals (like Riverina and Parkes) or regional Liberals (like Farrer and Hume). And at the last two federal elections, independent candidates have turned National and Liberal-National seats like Cowper and Groom marginal. There is a perception that the junior National Party has been the tail wagging the dog, with the Liberals taking up the obsessions of National MPs - in particular nuclear energy. And while Coalition Governments dutifully "pork-barrelled" public money for safe regional seats, they neglected apparently safe urban seats held by Liberals. This helps explain why Liberals now hold mostly regional and rural seats, and barely exists in the inner-city. But big spending programs disguise how country interests have become diluted. Being in Coalition with the Liberal Party has weakened the ability of the National Party to advocate forcefully for the interests of those in regional and rural Australia. Famously, former National leader Michael McCormack could not name one time the Nationals had taken the side of farmers over that of miners. Similarly, in the last Coalition government, Nationals spruiked and voted for Scott Morrison's original stage three tax cuts - even though Nationals electorates had the least to gain. When the Albanese Labor government reformed stage three, the biggest winners were Australians living in Nationals seats. Regional and rural areas would benefit from increased public spending on education, health, public transport and infrastructure; all of which are harder to fund after the tax cuts eagerly pursued by Liberal-National governments. They are most at risk from climate change, and bear the brunt of disasters amplified by a warming earth. Independents like Cathy McGowan, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor have recognised this, as have those running in more recent elections like Helen Haines. It is true that the Nationals still hold about as many lower house seats today as they did at the height of the Howard Coalition Government, and many are still nominally safe seats. But in recent elections, both Liberal and Labor Party MPs have learned the hard way that there is no such thing as a safe seat against the right challenger. Australia Institute research shows Australians are unique among Western democracies in their willingness to elect independents. Regional challengers to the major parties will not be cut from the same cloth as community independents in the cities, the so-called "teals". Regional and rural Australians have responded to somewhat different arguments, from somewhat different candidates. We could call these candidates "tans" - from the colour of their pants, and because it is "Nat" in reverse. Of course, none of this is predestined - nor was the Liberal Party doomed to veer to the right and leave behind moderate and classically liberal voters. These are the result of choices made by voters, by party rank-and-file and by elected representatives. A couple of weeks ago, the Nationals made a choice - to quit the Coalition - which suggested a willingness to rethink the old saws. Unfortunately, the reason was not to give the Nationals freedom to consider new ways of representing the country, but to allow them to hold onto failed policies like nuclear power. These policies failed to resonate with voters. And the united front of Liberals and Nationals held back rural candidates. Mia Davies, former leader of the WA Nationals (a more independently minded branch than those in NSW or Victoria) and a candidate in the federal election, thought her job was made harder by the opposition of Liberal shadow ministers to Labor's resources production tax credit scheme. READ MORE: What Angus Taylor called "billions for billionaires", Davies called "good policy". But Davies was a rare Coalition candidate who went against the party line. The effect is a decimated Liberal-National Coalition. And while it is mostly the Liberals who have lost seats, the Nationals have re-attached to the Coalition, which means their future relevance depends on the Liberals recovering 30-odd seats, and the Nationals winning a couple themselves off Labor - something the Nationals haven't managed to do since 2013. Once, National candidates could promise their electorate a voice in the government. With that looking a long way away, it is now independent and minor party candidates who can promise relevance: starting national debates, probing the government in question time and perhaps being at the heart of negotiations in the event of a future power-sharing Parliament. If the Nats are not interested in serving the interests of those in rural and regional Australia, they will find no shortage of "tans" willing to throw their Akubras in the ring.
