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Community facilities Education Speeches | February 20, 2020

Horsham Bus Services

Victorian Parliament - 20 February, 2020 - 

Ms KEALY (Lowan) (09:40): Horsham’s bus services have been thrown into complete chaos following the Minister for Public Transport’s grand announcement of her rescheduling of services. Students were left in disarray in their first week of school, with students dropped off after school started, picked up before school finished, waiting at the interchange for 50 minutes, abandoned with no way to get home or left on school grounds with no supervision for over 40 minutes. Town bus routes have been cut to some of the most heavily used stops servicing elderly and disadvantaged communities.

Following community outrage about Labor’s cuts to services, some bus services and closed stops have been reinstated, and I am thankful for that. However, while the minister promised to consult with the community to fix the mess, two weeks later Public Transport Victoria are still in hiding and no-one has asked the community what they need. We still have huge growth areas that are unserviced and reduced services to critical demand areas, and the minister is insistent on cutting seven school bus services back to five. I am meeting with the minister shortly and urge her to commit to retaining the seven school bus services and genuinely consult with the community to understand their needs and give Horsham the bus services we deserve.