STUDENTS traveling on South Coast buses have again been sold out as funding that could have installed seatbelts in their buses was slashed in the latest federal budget.
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A federal fund to help cover the cost of seatbelts being installed on buses that carry country kids has been repeatedly slashed over recent years to the point where it offered just $4million over four years, but in last week’s budget the funding was abolished.
The decision outraged Glenda Staniford of Termeil, one of the founders of the Belt Up for Safety campaign.
Budget papers described an “early termination” of the program, arguing it was no longer needed because state governments over the nation had stepped up to take over funding seatbelts in buses that carried school children.
The papers said there was “no longer a need for Commonwealth funding” and the money could be diverted to other priorities.
“What are their priorities?” Ms Staniford asked as she pointed to the budget allocating tens of millions of dollars to the search for the missing aircraft MH370.
“These are children’s lives we’re talking about.”
She said while the federal funding was meagre at only $1million per year, it represented the best chance of funding seatbelt installation in many buses carrying country students because they missed out on a state government program.
That program separated country school buses into two categories and focused funding for fitting seatbelts on the buses that carried only school students.
However, buses travelling south of Ulladulla missed out because they carried an occasional paying customer along with large numbers of students.
Federal Government funding was being used to help install seatbelts of buses that were missing out on the state program, and Ms Staniford said there was even a waiting list for bus companies wanting to access the funds.
“This is just a slap in the face for our rural kids,” Ms Staniford said.
She argued it was “just common sense” that buses travelling at high speeds over poor quality roads as they took children to and from schools should be among the first to have seatbelts fitted.
“They need seatbelts,” Ms Staniford said.
“I don’t know if the politicians don’t get the importance of this or what.”
The campaign to have buses fitted with seatbelts started in the southern Shoalhaven in 2001 after a bus rolled on the Princes Hwy between Nowra and Ulladulla, killing Ulladulla student Kristian Carruthers and injuring several others.
It resulted in former Prime Minister John Howard allocating around $40million in 2007 to help retrofit school buses with seatbelts, but Ms Staniford said state government regulations prevented bus companies accessing the money.
Over the years the funding was slashed to the point where it offered just $1million a year before that too was withdrawn.
“This is about safety,” Ms Staniford said.
“They government is saying ‘Have a go’, but they’re having a go at country kids.”
Shadow Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said the decision to axe the funding was “absurd … particularly since the program cost only $1million a year, but has almost certainly saved young lives.
“This fails the common sense test. It must be reversed immediately if Mr Abbott is to retain any credibility as a guardian of public safety,” Mr Albanese said.
However, Ms Staniford said Mr Albanese had also dramatically slashed funding for the seatbelt program when he was minister.
Ms Staniford said along with money to retrofit buses with seatbelts, government regulation was also needed to ensure all new buses had seatbelts installed before they entered service.
Onus on states to install seatbelts
Ben Smyth
NRMA senior policy adviser Jack Haley said the Federal Government contribution to seatbelts on school buses was “small but useful”.
“The NSW State Government has already committed to contract A buses, but with contract B there is no indication,” Mr Haley said.
“We would obviously like to see the plan continued across all buses that carry school children.
“The implementation [in NSW] has been fine, but it only accounts for less than half the buses used on our roads.”
Mr Haley said states had been active, some more than others, in getting seatbelts on to school buses, but the Federal Government funding was available nationwide.
However, he said some companies found the conditions “onerous” and applications were few and far between.
Member for Eden-Monaro Peter Hendy responded to concerns the government had withdrawn its funding of the program, by also referring back to the State Government commitment.
“Appropriately the NSW Government is committed to rolling out seatbelts on school buses dedicated to school runs in rural and regional NSW, thanks to the hard work of Andrew Constance and Premier Mike Baird,” Dr Hendy said.
“Previously the Australian Government’s seatbelts on regional school buses program has funded the installation of seatbelts on 475 buses across rural and regional Australia.
“That project is ending.
“However, the NSW plan will see almost 1400 buses fitted with seatbelts over the next decade.
“Around 68,000 students across regional and rural NSW travel on these dedicated school buses each day, covering more than 50million kilometres each year.
“Since the announcement, only buses with seatbelts fitted are being approved by Transport for NSW when operators apply for replacement buses to run on routes identified for the rollout.
“Priority for the rollout is based on the age of buses, whether seatbelts are already partially installed and whether students are currently standing on individual runs.”
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