Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 2 Hansard (20 May) . . Page.. 382 ..

MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

Mr Speaker, I move this motion because a number of issues have been raised with me by parents of students travelling on school buses. Also, a number of children have contacted me. In early February - some months ago - I first became aware that there was a serious problem with this service. I was invited to a meeting with some parents in the home of one of them. At my invitation, two weeks later, some senior officers from ACTION attended a meeting, also in a parent's home. I must say that many of the problems presented then were addressed quickly. At this meeting, I suggested that there seemed to be a need for a review of bus services for students. The officers agreed with me; but said that there was already a significant review of trunk services under way, so it would be some time before such a review of school bus services could be done.

Between these two meetings, I was contacted by another, different, group of parents complaining that buses at St Clare's College and St Edmund's College in Griffith had left some students behind at the bus stop because the buses were full. In one case, there were three brothers attending St Edmund's. The bus on which they were to travel home left with the two younger boys on board, but leaving the eldest behind. Imagine, Mr Speaker, if you will, the unease - nay, panic - these younger boys felt at seeing their older brother, who normally took charge of the group, standing on the roadside. In another case in the same incident, one young girl was left behind. She came from a family in Gilmore whose father was interstate. She is one of 11 kids. The other siblings were attending different schools because of their age groups. The mother naturally panicked, because she could not drop everything, pile 10 kids into the car and go in search of her daughter. Fortunately, another parent rescued the child and called the mother, and everything ended up okay.

Mr Speaker, in his press release of 28 April, the Minister invited me to back up my claims with specific details. I did so on TV and in the press. I also advised ACTION of these details - and others, for that matter. I invite the Minister to get his facts right, before making a goose of himself in the media, by checking whether the information has been provided to his department. In his press statement, the Minister said that he welcomed my support for the review, which, in his own words, had been on the drawing board for some months. He accused me of missing the bus. I ask, Mr Speaker: For how many months do we have to wait for the bus? Have the terms of reference for the review been advertised to the community? Mr Speaker, they have not. Is it general knowledge in the schools community that such a review is on the drawing board? It is not. Had I not called for the review, would the Minister have put out his press release? I think not.

Mr Speaker, the reason I have moved this motion is that I believe that the review should be broader than one would expect of an internal review of this kind. This is the important point. ACTION management is to be congratulated for the way in which it embraced community consultation in the review of trunk services just completed. I trust that it will do the same in the school bus review. I am confident that it will do so. In his press release, the Minister promised that the review will be completed by September 1998 and implemented before the 1999 school year. I am suggesting that the review be completed, in its investigation and community consultation phase, by the end of term 4, not the end of term 3. That is a significant point, Mr Speaker. I am suggesting that the timeframe advertised may be too short. We have to take into consideration the school holiday times, when people are not available for that community consultation. It is not appropriate that the community consultation and investigation of route options be rushed.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .