They can build housing estates till the cows come home, but what’s the point if there’s no bus to get you to town?

That’s the brutal reality for thousands of residents in Greater Shepparton, where the bus network hasn’t seen a serious review in more than 15 years, despite booming population growth. One Nation State MP for Northern Victoria, Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell, isn’t sitting back quietly while her community gets ignored again.

Quoting the Riverine Herald, Tyrrell pointed out that “many new housing estates have been developed over that time, meaning that many residents are simply not connected to the existing bus routes.”

And it gets worse.

“There are no services on Sundays,” she said. “People can’t get to work, and a simple trip from Tatura to Shepparton, which takes just 20 minutes by car, could take up to two hours on the bus.”

Tatura’s not some tiny blip on the map. It’s the third largest town in Greater Shepparton. Yet locals are still stuck with a transport system that looks like it was designed on the back of a coaster during the Bracks years.

In a speech to the Victorian Parliament, Tyrrell torched the Andrews-alumni government for rolling out the red carpet in places like Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat while completely ignoring Shepparton, again.

“The government allocated funding in the 2025–26 state budget to conduct bus network reviews in Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and the Bellarine Peninsula,” she said. “Yet Greater Shepparton misses out again.”

That sound familiar?

Fifteen years of silence from Spring Street while Shepparton’s population has surged by over 12,000 people. Tyrrell says enough is enough, and she’s calling for a full and immediate review.

Mrs Tyrrell is working closely with Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali and Council CEO Fiona Le Gassick, who are also demanding action. Public Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams has now been formally called on to respond.

“This is a matter of basic fairness,” Tyrrell said. “We’ve got people stuck, stranded, and shut out of opportunity—because the Labor Government can’t be bothered updating a bus map from 2009.”

You can read the full Riverine Herald article by Bree Harding.