Victoria Opens Electric Bus Tender Covering 800 Vehicles as Queensland Doubles Down on Diesel

Victoria’s Labor government has moved forward with its plan to convert the state’s bus network to zero-emission technology, launching a tender process that could reshape roughly 40 per cent of Melbourne’s bus operations. The Metropolitan Zero Emission Bus Franchise 2 (MZF2) procurement covers four new franchise areas and an estimated 800 vehicles, logging about 49 million service kilometres annually.

This push builds on a roadmap announced in late 2024 and a commitment that every new public transport bus purchased from July 1, 2025, would be zero emission. Franchise agreements covering around a third of Melbourne’s network were already handed out in September 2024, spanning 131 public routes and more than 230 school services.

The contrast with Queensland could hardly be sharper. Just weeks before Victoria’s tender went live, Queensland’s LNP government scrapped its own electric bus ambitions and announced plans to procure 630 new diesel buses. Transport minister Brent Mickelberg dismissed electric buses as little more than an oversized “paperweight” that would clog city roads.

Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Julie Delvecchio weighed in on LinkedIn, pointing out that only one of the two states appears to be planning for the long term. She argued that a diesel bus ordered today becomes a fuel bill, a tailpipe and a decision communities will live with into the 2030s, while an electric bus order brings investment in vehicles, depot charging and the infrastructure required for a modern zero-emission fleet. Electric buses are cheaper to run, quieter on streets and cleaner for the neighbourhoods they serve, she added.

Queensland’s diesel fleet is expected to remain in service well beyond the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane, meaning visitors arriving for the Games could see the state’s procurement choice on display. The EVC’s State of EVs scorecard shows Queensland trailing several states on electric bus policy, though it is not alone. New South Wales and the ACT lead on overall EV policy and electric buses in particular, while Victoria lags in most categories but still outperforms Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and South Australia. Western Australia ranks poorly overall but joins NSW and the ACT near the front on electric buses, having stopped buying non-electric buses in 2025 and requiring new buses to be built locally in Malaga.