Vote Buying at Its Best (Worst?) in QLD

There’s a campaign showing Queensland Premier Steven Miles holding a fifty-cent coin near a train. What’s going on? Breaking news, all public transport fares in Queensland will cost fifty cents from August 5th as part of a six-month trial. Is this campaign cheesy? Yes. Is this a political stunt? Yes. Is this a vote-buying exercise? 100% yes. There’s an election coming up in October. You’d be a fool to think this could be anything else. But is this a good idea? Well, that’s what we’re here to talk about.

I’ve lived in Asia, and don’t get me wrong, I love cheap public transport. When I was in Beijing, I could travel anywhere in the city for like 40 cents. One complaint I’ve had about Australian public transport, is that it’s often very expensive, comparatively. That said, I understand why. Asia often has a much higher population density, so it’s much easier to get bang for your buck regarding massive transportation networks. You’re guaranteed many times more trips per day in Beijing than say Brisbane per distance travelled.

So what are my thoughts on the recent Queensland Government announcement where they’re going to offer fifty-cent travel no matter how far you go?

First of all, I’d just like to point out, I don’t use public transport – almost never. Before the pandemic, I used to work in the Brisbane CBD, and I had a couple of colleagues who used to commute from the Gold Coast. They hated it, but had no option. It was standing room only, five days a week. When the prices are dropped to fifty cents, how crowded will they be? Presumably, very!

And what about parking? Many people in Brisbane have to drive to the station. They are not close enough to walk. Where will all these cars park? It’s all well and good to have fifty-cent tickets spurring on demand, but unless you build more car parks, where will all these extra people park their cars? I guess the government haven’t fully thought this through, but this is not about that, this is about getting reelected!

So how much will it cost the government? Well of course, the government aren’t paying for it. We’re paying for it through taxes! $150 million for the six-month trial. Presumably, if they made it permanent, this will double the cost to at least $300 million each year and force additional investments in transport infrastructure to cope with the higher demand. Are they essentially just using taxpayer money to fund his reelection campaign? I don’t know, I’m just asking.

Some will argue that this will all be paid for out of the hard work of folks in regional communities generating mining royalties. Folks living in places with no Translink services, not to mention a lack of teachers, doctors, and police. Is this the Queensland Government, or perhaps the Brisbane Government? I guess they’ve abandoned any dreams of holding onto any regional seats.

Actually, I’m surprised they didn’t import American rapper 50 Cent to promote this new fifty-cent public transport initiative with his brand new song, “Get on the f***in’ train motherf***er!”. Yes, I know, I should work in marketing.

When Mr Miles was asked why the initiative is not permanent, he said, “If it was permanent, then they might say, ‘Oh, I’ll think about it next year, I’ll think about it sometime in the future”, whereas with this trial people know that they need to use it to prove that they want almost free public transport.”

When asked, why not just make it free, he said, “If it was free, it would be hard to still require people to tap on and tap off, and without that tap on and tap off data, we don’t have an accurate picture of how many people are using public transport, and we need that data not just to see whether this trial is successful, but also to manage the network, to make sure we’re using our resources and rostering staff and all of those things in a way that they need to be based on demand.”

You know what I think, I don’t think that’s the real reason. If it were 100% free, they’re worried that there would be vagrancy. There would be anti-social behaviour. Homeless people might decide that a nice warm train would be the perfect place to camp out during the cold winter days. Although, one could argue that fifty cents is not much of a price to pay. As long as they pay their fifty cents per trip, they can travel on the buses, trains and ferries all day and all night (or at least until the last service). I believe some of the Nambour and Gold Coast trains have toilet and wash basin facilities onboard allowing them to have a wash if they desire, and as I said, it’s a cheap, warm place to lay their heads during the winter months.

We know it’s cheesy. We know it’s a political stunt. But as I asked at the start, is it a good idea? Well, I’m a bit biased, so I think I’ll reserve my judgement until after it’s been running for a month or two. But what do you think? Has the Premier bought your vote? Has he won you over? Or is this just vote buying at its best?

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Allégro by Emmit Fenn