New South Wales Labor, in opposition, and committed to establishing an industry taskforce to assess a key report, provided to the former Coalition government, on the failures of bus privatisation.
Now, however, the new minister claims that it .
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said in a long聽interview at Randwick Bus Depot on April 12 that cancelling the existing bus companies鈥 contracts would , because many of the contracts are 鈥渦p to ten years鈥, adding, 鈥渢he options available to us are limited鈥.
The cancellations of bus services over the last two years, to meet 鈥渙n time鈥 targets, left many people stranded and generated outrage.
Labor, in opposition, campaigned against聽the , including buses, but was light on the detail.
The 鈥檚 Matt O鈥橲ullivan on April 12 blamed the service cancellations on the former Coalition government鈥檚 contracts with private operators, which failed to penalise companies for cancelled services.
Haylen, he said, has been briefed on how the contracts 鈥渇ail[ed] to financially penalise operators after a certain number of cancellations are reached each month鈥.
Haylen told the SMH that this meant the Coalition created contracts with private bus companies that 鈥渁ctually give them financial incentives to cancel bus services鈥. Such incentives, she said, was 鈥渘ot right鈥 and she said the workforce had become 鈥渦tterly demoralised鈥.
According to official figures, about 28,000 bus services in Sydney were cancelled or partially cancelled last August.
鈥淥nce [a bus company] has failed, it is not going to spend the money to try to meet the target because 鈥 they are not going to be fined any more,鈥 , divisional secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) told the SMH.
A Legislative Council report, , tabled last September, recommended聽the government consider returning privately-operated bus networks to public hands. It linked the privatisation of public transport with a sharp decline in service quality and higher costs for commuters.
the Coalition鈥檚 privatisation of the bus network had motivated cost cutting, which unfairly impacted on vulnerable people. It recommended ending the privatisation of the inner west, the eastern suburbs and northern beaches bus routes when they expired.
Greens MLC and committee chair Abigail Boyd told the SMH last September that the degradation of services was a result of privatisation.
鈥淔or a short-term sugar hit to the budget, they sold the public out, and they鈥檝e trapped us into restrictive contracts that will take years for future governments to unpick.鈥
Babineau said while the union 鈥渄idn鈥檛 need an inquiry to tell us that bus privatisation has been a disaster 鈥 it鈥檚 fantastic to see it there in black and white.鈥
鈥淭he justification was fabricated, the touted savings remain theoretical, and the harm to workers and the travelling public has been immediate and widespread,鈥 Babineau said.
In late January, two months before the election, Sydney bus services were cancelled, causing mass havoc.聽RTBU Tram and Bus Division NSW President Peter Grech said at the time that Transport for NSW鈥檚 service cuts, in conjunction with the private bus operators, were to blame.
Grech said given that the private operators are 鈥渟truggling to attract and retain bus drivers鈥, it means 鈥渙perators are axing hundreds of services every day鈥.
The NSW Greens took a policy of free public transport on all buses, trains and ferries and putting public transport back in public hands, unwinding privatisation to the election.
for successfully getting the Legislative Council in 2019 to聽oppose the privatisation of the northern beaches, eastern suburbs, North Shore and Chatswood bus services聽in regions 7, 8 and 9.
The Greens聽鈥溾 policy states that: 鈥淧ublic transport is a public good. Its value extends beyond its direct profitability 鈥 A well-functioning public transport system is vital for the economic health of our state, for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and for ensuring community mobility and equity.鈥
The Greens have promised to push to restore the State Transit Authority, reverse the privatisations in Sydney and Newcastle, bring bus manufacturing back to NSW and ensure workers across the industry are given fairer wages and conditions.