Bus Driver Contracts

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:42): My question is to the Minister for Transport. Can the minister guarantee no bus driver will lose their job as a result of the transition to the new service contracts, scheduled to commence on 4 July? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Ms BEDFORD: On 10 March, the minister announced Torrens Transit, or Transit Systems as he said yesterday, would take over the outer north service contract from SouthLink in July. I am informed Torrens Transit gave assurances no drivers would lose their job as a result of this transition, yet I have been approached and contacted by at least four drivers who have told me they have not been given a job with the incoming operator despite that commitment.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:43): I do thank the member for Florey for her question. I do note that the contracts, as they are being transferred across, are being transferred across based on the existing network that is in place and the existing route network that is in place. Whilst the guarantee that we have given is in relation to the number of jobs that are there, guaranteeing that each individual is given a new contract and transitioned across is a separate commitment.

The jobs are there and the jobs will continue because the bus routes are there and those routes will continue. But in terms of what the internal hiring practices are of private bus operators, I think that that is something beyond the remit of a commitment to give. But certainly the briefing that I have had is that the jobs will transfer across in their quantum, as distinct from what individuals may have happen to their individual employment circumstances; that is a separate matter.