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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 307 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 24 June 2021 by Mr P.J. Rundle

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

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.