NSW Government Refuses Free Public Transport Despite Rising Unaffordability

On Monday afternoon, 13 April 2026, the US Trump administration was hours away from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, while a week prior, Washington’s focus had been opening it, and with the cost of oil soaring to over $100 a barrel again, so too are those prices rising at the local bowser.

But New South Wales premier Chris Minns continues to refuse to make public transport free for all NSW constituents.

“There’s no such thing as free public transport, at the end of the day someone’s paying for it, and NSW consumers will pay for free public transport,” the NSW premier told the press on 1 April. And he added that he would be making some changes for struggling NSW families, but he wants to “make sure it is based on evidence, and I want to make sure it makes a material difference to fuel supply”.