Key facts
- The "Jess Express" campaign bus reversed into a small business at the Centre Road shops on Friday.
- Wilson took questions for four minutes and 39 seconds at the Burnet Institute a day before the bus launch.
- Treasurer Colin Brooks presented a booklet listing 30 Coalition promises Labor said had not been costed.
- Wilson said costings would be released after the government's pre-election budget update.
- The store owner said he was not too fussed provided his awning is repaired and was still undecided.
The Victorian Liberal campaign bus reversed into a small business at the Centre Road shops on Friday, capping a difficult week for leader Jess Wilson, Guardian Australia reported in a report dated November 6, 2026.
The bus, branded the "Jess Express", was launched on Friday, a few days earlier than planned, in what the report described as an effort to reset Wilson's relationship with the Spring Street press pack. Wilson was joined by her team and recruits from Canberra, including federal Liberal senator James Paterson and Kane Silom, who took leave from his role as communications director for federal Liberal leader Angus Taylor.
At a Bentleigh cafe Wilson made coffees and served brunch before a press conference that ran more than 20 minutes. Pressed on her party's costings, she said voters would have to wait until after early voting begins. "We cannot release our costings until the government has released its pre-election budget update," Wilson said.
A day before the launch, journalists waited an hour as Wilson announced a $100m investment in medical research at the Burnet Institute, then stayed for four minutes and 39 seconds of questions, answering one question from each of the nine journalists present. Treasurer Colin Brooks had earlier spent 20 minutes presenting a booklet Labor titled "Jess Wilson's Dodgy Costings", which detailed 30 Coalition promises it said had not been costed.
Brooks said the Liberals "don't want to be subject to the scrutiny of having journalists … asking questions during the day". The report noted Labor's own finances, including net debt forecast to reach $199bn within four years, and questions over how the Coalition plans to deliver a surplus by 2032 while making $8bn of election promises.
Wilson also defended the Liberals' commitment to sell $1.3bn of government-owned land, saying the costs had been factored in by the Parliamentary Budget Office. The store owner whose business was hit said he was not too fussed provided his awning is repaired, and that he was still undecided on his vote.