30th July 2026
We congratulate Ben Carroll and Gabrielle Williams on their appointments to state leadership, as we anticipate a new era of service reform priority.
Both Carroll and Willams have held the office of public transport minister prior to becoming Premier and Deputy Premier; Carroll’s tenure being of note due to the initiation of the yet to be enacted 'Victoria's Bus Plan' which indicates movement towards transformational grid network reform. We hope that as Premier the bus plan moves forward.
Ben Carroll is an MP from the western suburbs, and has a track record of transport advocacy for his community, securing a railway station for Keilor East as part of the in-progress Airport Rail Project. Gabrielle Williams, as MP for Dandenong has been instrumental in working with local community leaders to secure significant local bus network improvements.
In his first public appearances, the new premier has been keen to affirm: “I am not Daniel Andrews, I am not Jacinta Allan”. The previous two premiers’ tenures have been characterised by their focus on infrastructure delivery rather than service reform. This infrastructure legacy has been valuable to Melbourne's west, including the Metro Tunnel, Ballarat Line Upgrade and several LXRP projects – bus services in Melbourne's west have not kept pace with rapid population growth.
Ben Carroll’s approach as education minister has been service focused, delivering on expert evidence based reform, such as full implementation of phonics in primary education. In the current era of fiscal restraint, we hope that he carries that approach forward to transport.
In our current transport context, the biggest impact will not require hard hats nor billions of dollars, instead coming from complete bus network reform for Melbourne's west, carried out with thoughtful planning and a reasonable, responsible budget.
We look forward to Ben Carroll and Gabrielle Williams being transformational leaders on bus reform in the West and across all of Melbourne.
See below map for Sustainable Cities' vision of better buses for the west.
