Media Releases

Minister for Transport Terry Mulder will visit Shepparton in October at the request of State Member for Shepparton Jeanette Powell.

Mrs Powell said she was pleased the Minister had accepted her invitation to come to Shepparton to meet with several organisations about a variety of transport matters.

“My office has been liaising with Mr Mulder’s office to put together an agenda for his visit which has now been confirmed,” Mrs Powell said.

“Mr Mulder will meet with representatives from the City of Greater Shepparton, the Goulburn Valley Hwy Action Group and Shepparton RAILS as well as inspect Doyles Rd roundabout and the Shepparton Railway station,” Mrs Powell said.

Mr Mulder and Mrs Powell will travel together from Melbourne to Shepparton on the evening train on October 19 and Mr Mulder will travel back to Melbourne by train the following day.

“It is good the Minister will have the opportunity to experience firsthand the train trip from Melbourne to Shepparton and return,” Mrs Powell said.

“I am sure the visit will be beneficial for the Minister and the organisations involved.

“I have met with Shepparton RAILS several times and have taken a deputation of representatives from the City of Greater Shepparton to meet with Minister Mulder in Melbourne.

“This follow-up meeting will be a good opportunity for the Minister to hear firsthand the concerns that have been raised with him,” Mrs Powell said.

Member for Shepparton, Jeanette Powell, has received a response from the Minister for Roads and Ports regarding her call for the government to upgrade Doyles Road to improve its safety.
Mrs Powell raised the issue in Parliament with the Minister in June after she had been contacted by local residents concerned about safety issues on this very busy road.
“The Minister advised me that VicRoads will investigate the causes of crashes along Doyles Road to determine whether there are road-related factors that could be fixed by safety improvement works.
“He also told me that any proposals for safety improvements will be prioritised on a statewide basis with priority given to locations with a high number of crashes or along sections of road with high crash rates.
“The evidence is already available for the State government to take into account that the state of the road contributed to accidents.
“VicRoads is aware that Doyles Road is a very busy and dangerous road with a history of serious accidents and recently acknowledged that heavy traffic increasing, with 40% of the traffic being large commercial vehicles.
“There have been a number of deaths on Doyles Road and the potential is still there for another serious accident.”
“The residents are angry and frustrated at the lack of action by the state government as they were promised it would be widened when the road was made a bypass, but nothing has happened.”
Mrs Powell said the Minister for Roads statement that any proposals for safety improvements will be prioritised on a statewide basis is the same approach he took over an upgrade of Benalla Road.
“Persistence paid off then, as the government recently announced it will fund the upgrade of Benalla Road,” Mrs Powell said.
“The evidence and resident’s experiences tell us that Doyles Road is a very dangerous road and needs to be improved.
“I will continue to lobby the Minister to fund an upgrade which will widen Doyles Road and improve safety at all its intersections,” Mrs Powell said.

People with a disability are being treated in an appalling and uncaring way in Shepparton, Nationals Member for Shepparton, Jeanette Powell told Parliament today.
In a Member’s Statement to the Legislative Assembly, Mrs Powell brought the lack of access to Multipurpose Taxis (MPTS) to the attention of the Minister for Public Transport.
Mrs Powell said Mr Rick Madgewick of Greater Shepparton Taxis told her he had submitted an application to the Victorian Taxi Directorate (VTD) in November last year for a multi purpose vehicle to cater for people with a disability.
“Mr Madgewick and his barrister continually contacted the VTD for an answer but to no avail,” Mrs Powell said.
“In a ludicrous situation, at a meeting with the VTD on 31st May, Mr Madgewick was told to put in another application, even though they hadn’t responded to his first one.
“In January I wrote in support of an extra licence for a Wheel Chair Accessible Multi Purpose Taxi to service the district.
“Shepparton is one of the fastest growing regional centres, with a population over 60,000, yet there are only two MPTs in the area and they are owned by another taxi network.
“Compare that with Wangaratta which has four MPTs and a much smaller population to service.
“Aged care facilities, a school for students with a disability and service providers have advised me of the need for more MPTs in the Shepparton district.
“It is outrageous that people with a disability in the Shepparton district are being ignored and denied independence by the VTD.”
Mrs Powell said this was evidenced this week when Mr Terry Duffy called in to her office to complain about the limited number of MPTs in Shepparton.
“He is 74 years of age and uses a motorised scooter to get around as he suffers from severe arthritis and breathing difficulties,” Mrs Powell said.
“Twice a week he attends GV Health for treatment and then is forced to wait for two hours after his treatment as his scooter only fits in one of the two MPTs.
“He recently phoned the VTD to voice concern at the lack of MPTs and it was suggested he get a smaller scooter!
“This is an outrageous situation and I called on the Minister to increase the number of MPTs in Shepparton to allow people with a disability to be engaged in the community,” Mrs Powell said.

Dear Sir,
I welcome the local Labor Party Branch’s public support for fast rail services on the Shepparton/Melbourne line and improved links to Cobram; however they must be referring to their local Labor MPs when they said local MPs have sat in silence on this matter.
My Coalition colleagues and I have never sat in silence on matters of public transport.
Over the last 7 years I have continually raised issues in Parliament and personally with the Minister for Public Transport, and met with the VLine General Manager of Stakeholders Relations to resolve service issues.
The $4 million program to upgrade the Albury/Shepparton line to improve train speeds came after one of these meetings as did the reintroduction of the afternoon train/coach service in 2007.
I have raised concerns with the Minister regarding lack of shelter, lack of seating and lack of information regarding late changes of platforms at Southern Cross Station.
I have called for improved services including more staff so that the Shepparton Railway Station remains open until the last train and bus service and collected names on a petition calling for the government to bring back rail services to Cobram.
Recently I met with the Mayor and CEO of the City of Greater Shepparton to discuss the need for Sprinter train services between Shepparton and Seymour to better meet the needs of our community.
I have written to the Minister urging him to conduct a review of the current Shepparton VLine train and bus services and timetables, including the introduction of Sprinter trains.
As one of the fastest growing regions in the state a quality public transport system is crucial to the liveability of our region.
It was the Labor Minister for Public Transport, Martin Pakula who stated in the media that Shepparton is not a priority to receive increased services or Vlocity trains.
I will continue to lobby the Labor government to get improved rail services and I urge Labor MPs to do the same.