Soon after the change of the Victorian Premier, Paul Mees, a transport academic from RMIT is encouraging the new premier to approach transport projects realistically as there is not a great deal of funding available for the published wish list.

Mr Rees is an RMIT University lecturer on transport planning and he says that the new Victorian Premier, Denis Napthine, may have a difficult time altering the ‘cant do’ attitude of the State’s Department of Transport.

He said that he hopes that Premier Napthine with have a realistic approach to any talks and work with the attitude that the projects that can be afforded are the ones that get the go ahead.

Mr Mees said that the Federal Government provides funding for transport from the Building Australia Fund that has approximately $5 billion in it at the moment, an amount that must fund projects across the whole of Australia.

He said that it was unrealistic for Victoria to expect an allocation of $30 million from the available monies.

Mr Mees said that he thinks that Denis Napthine’s portfolio will be taken up by the current Roads Minister Terry Mulder who Mees questioned in his current role.

He said that Mr Mulder would be the logical person to take over but that he had shown a perceived lack of energy when “shaking up the public transport side of his portfolio.”

Mr Mees said that this might have been one of the areas that affected the outgoing Premier Mr Ballieu as he had made a number of promised regarding the public transport system prior to being elected.

He also said that he saw the Department of Transport as an issue because they have a current culture of not being able to achieve. Mr Mees said that if the current government wants to turn around its reputation of not doing anything they would need to replicate the positive culture that is already a feature at Vic Roads.