State Member for Wallsend, Sonia Hornery, is calling on the Transport Minster to address safety concerns raised by Newcastle bus drivers following the death of Manmeet Alisher, a Brisbane bus driver who died after being set alight when a boarding passenger launched an "incendiary device" at him.
Drivers across the Hunter have been calling for improved safety conditions for a number of years following a string of incidents including a bus driver who was violently assaulted after ordering a 28-year-old man off the bus in Raymond Terrace for drinking alcohol on board in 2014.
The number of assaults on Hunter bus drivers has increased in recent years with reports of drivers being verbally assaulted, spat on or physically attacked.
Sonia Hornery says everyone deserves a safe working environment and bus drivers have been subjected to increasing levels of violence.
"The Government need to be protecting our drivers much better than they are. Our bus drivers, particularly at night, are saying it's not safe for them, they're on their own and are at the whim of the best behaviour of commuters."
Ms Hornery also believes with the privatisation of public transport in the Hunter pending, the Government needs to ensure safety is given priority as private bus fleets have been shown to have even fewer safety measures in place in their vehicles.
"The Government is just about to privatise and sell off Newcastle Buses so they need to make sure that our fleet is as safe as possible."
Richard Allsop from The Institute of Public Affairs wrote in the Assessing the results of privatisation report which assesses Victoria's Privatisation of public transport "Safety improved faster after privatisation than before privatisation for all classes of accidents."
Ms Hornery will be taking the issue with her to Parliament next week and will be writing to the Minister for Transport to seek a commitment to improving the safety of Hunter bus drivers.
 |
| Newcastle buses. |
 |
| Wallsend MP, Sonia Hornery. |
