Sydney’s new buses arrive from China despite local build promises

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns (pictured) is facing criticism after buses promised to be built locally arrived nearly complete from a Chinese factory, despite government pledges to revitalise domestic manufacturing.

Transport Minister John Graham defended the purchase on Saturday, saying the government always planned to import bus “shells” from China for completion at a Nowra facility, as 15 of 126 electric buses arrived at Port Kembla this week.

Photographs from Chinese manufacturer Foton's Beijing headquarters showed the buses decorated with ribbons during a delivery ceremony before being shipped to Australia's south coast.

The images contradicted statements made by Minns in January, when he announced plans to build the buses at a “state-of-the-art facility” in Nowra, creating 100 local jobs.

At the time, on Facebook, Minns said “the offshoring of public transport by the former government was a complete disaster, which is why we're building these buses here in NSW”.

Graham said the buses would receive final fittings including seats, CCTV systems, fire safety equipment and Opal card readers in Nowra, with local content to scale up to 50 per cent by 2027.

“It's consistent with what the plan always was, which is the shells are coming in from overseas and the internal fittings… will be done in NSW,” Graham said at Central Station on Saturday.

However, Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union NSW secretary Bradley Pidgeon accused the government of misleading the public.

“We're really sick of the lies that hide the truth – we've got quotes from the NSW government to deliver 126 buses built in Nowra,” Pidgeon said, noting the buses appeared largely complete except for missing seats.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said the Premier had broken his promise to build the buses in Nowra.

“Right now, the only thing locally manufactured under this government is pathetic public transport reliability and a new set of excuses,” Ward said.

The planned Nowra facility remains undeveloped, with buses to be processed at a temporary rented site where final assembly work will occur.

Picture: credit NSW Labor