Jeremy Rockliff must come clean on which of the bus services – which so many Tasmanians rely on to get to work, school and to participate in the community – he plans to cut.
A staggering 190 Metro bus services were cancelled in Hobart yesterday, with 120 more today.
Sadly, instead of recognising that they need to do more to fix the issues plaguing Tasmania’s public transport system, the Government’s best response is a plan to cut services entirely so the cancellations go away.
This plan does nothing for the countless Tasmanians who rely on public transport – many of whom have no other mode of transport available to them.
Will the service Rockliff cuts be one that a single mum relies on to pick up her children from school?
Or will it be one a pensioner takes to his regular medical appointment?
Will the remaining services become overcrowded in peak hour, leaving Tasmanians on the curb or standing in the aisle?
Conservative governments have a bad habit of running services into the ground and then cutting them, and that’s exactly what we appear to be seeing with Metro.
And while it’s bus services on the chopping block now, with the Liberals planned budget cuts to come we know they’ll be swinging the axe through hospitals, schools and other services next.
After 10 years of a Liberal Government, services Tasmanians rely upon are falling to pieces. If Jeremy Rockliff has let it get this bad, there’s no chance he is going to fix the issues any time soon.
Josh Willie MLC
Shadow Minister for Transport
