SCHOOL
BUS SERVICES — REGIONS
307. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the growing
number of angry parents concerned about the diminishing access to school bus
services in multiple regions in WA. They raised that issue with me in
community forums held in both Munglinup and Darkan recently.
(1) Will the
minister refer the current student transport assistance policy and operational
guidelines to the Economics and Industry Standing Committee for review?
(2) Will the
minister allocate additional funding in the state budget to school bus services
to ensure the ongoing provision of services for these regional communities?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI
replied:
I thank the
member for Roe for that question.
(1)–(2)
The issue of school bus services, in particular those servicing regional
communities, has been an issue for many, many years. In many instances, we have
small numbers of children and the distances are great. I never underestimate
some of the challenges for children, particularly young children, being on
buses for long periods, travelling from their home to school. The school bus
service team in the agency is always trying to manage it because it is very
challenging. Of course, different families have different aspirations. A family
may have two children in primary school, and then one will move from primary to
high school. That high school may not be
local. In some cases, students may go to a boarding school, but normally they
attend a high school that is a greater distance away. Family circumstances
change. As I said, when we are dealing with vast distances and families with
young children, it is a challenge. The school bus team in my agency does a lot
of work with communities and the individuals involved.
The member will be happy to hear
that I have been thinking about this issue quite seriously for a while. I had a discussion with the Minister for Education
and Training because we both agree that issues are raised constantly.
The issues relate to the policy set by the department and the policy set by the
Public Transport Authority and then how they
marry and merge to deliver services. As I said, these issues change over time.
In some instances, things might be going
well, but all we need is two families to move and, potentially, the children grow up and change schools. For example,
I have a friend in Moran Rock. Her kids use the school bus services. She
tells me about the constant challenges she faces as the profile of that area
changes over time. The number of kids in the area changes over time, along with
the schools they attend.
There
are a couple of other competing factors with the issue of school bus services
in regional WA. One is the different contracts that are out there. We
had the evergreen contracts, which were signed up by the previous government. I
know there was a bit of disquiet about those at the time—the
expectation it gives the contractors not only during their lifetime, but also
that they could be handed down and so forth. Those contracts are an interesting
development that occurred under the previous government. There are other issues, such as the other contracts that have been
tendered out, the quality of the buses and the maintenance issues. I agree that
it is a very complex area. As I said, I have been very interested in this for a
long time.
The member suggested that the
matter be referred to a committee. That is something that I will consider,
whether it be the Economics and Industry Standing Committee or another
committee of the Parliament. Given the
member's deep interest in this issue, I expect that he may want to be
co-opted onto that committee. I am very keen to discuss this.
Unfortunately, this is the last day of this sitting period, but when we come
back, we can discuss this and identify the exact terms of reference of the
committee.
I also want to say that this is not
going to be a budget ask. There are issues in public services across the state.
I want to make sure that we use the budget allocation effectively and efficiently
to deliver services throughout regional WA, noting the constant and changing
demands for individual families and communities because, as I said, we are
dealing with individual families. Of course, it also depends on the parents and where they are working, if they are
working. There are hundreds of different factors. Trying to get a system that is responsive and flexible
enough to suit every family is difficult, but I am happy to engage to
see whether the system can be improved to better manage these issues so that
the member, the Minister for Education and Training and I do not get as many
queries and questions about this issue every day.