I spoke in support of a petition opposing the Government's plans to privatise public transport operation in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.

Ms JODIE HARRISON(Charlestown) (16:10:34): I speak in support of thepetition because the Charlestown community has seen firsthand the chaos caused by the privatisation of public transport.I will talk about the Newcastle experience today and why every person who has signed thepetition is absolutely right in being terrified about what will happen if their buses are privatised.In 2017 when theGovernment made the decision to privatise Newcastle Buses,itclaimeditwould savepublic transport in Charlestown and surrounding electorates.I think the words it used was that itpromised to delivera world-class public transport experience.

Thatis not what happened.At first the handover to a private provider was plagued with administrative stuff-ups. Workerswere notpaid properly. My office was flooded with complaints about buses running late or not showing up at all. There were even issues with staff uniforms.So much for a more efficient service from the private sector,and it only got worse. Theprivate provider overhauled the network, cutting routes and slashing services. No-onecanget a bus in or out of my suburb after 6.30 p.m. It is outrageous. Commuters across Charlestown were left without adequatebuscoverage. Community consultation was thin on the groundif itcan be called"community consultation." It was a sell job.

Everybodywho engaged with it felt that their concerns had not been heard or understood.The outrage inmylocal community was palpable. Thememberfor Swansea, who is present in the Chamber, and Igathered10,000signatures on a petition calling on the Government to fix the bus system they had broken.Another 10,000signatureswere collected by my colleagues in Newcastle and Wallsend. A mass rally was held in Newcastle,calling on the Government to addressthoseconcerns;amassive community meeting was held in Belmont.People wrote letters and emails, made phone callsandreached out tomeandmylocal colleagues over social media.Locals travelledto Parliament to watch the petition be debated in this veryChambertoensure thattheir voices were heard.Still,theGovernment failed to listen.

Theearlyfranchisingexperimentin Charlestown, Newcastle, Swansea and Wallsend just did notwork.There isno way that it can be considered a world-class public transport system.Opal data revealed a 2 per cent decrease in patronage in the months after the changeover. On-time running fell from 87 per cent to 52 per cent. Wedid notget the better and additional servicesthatwe were promised. The more efficient, integrated transport systemthatwe were promised never materialised.

Before the last election the Premier said there would be no more privatisations. Yet here we are; the Premier has betrayed Sydney commuters, just as she betrayed commuters in the Charlestown electorate. I am calling on the Premier, and everybody who has signed this petition is calling on the Premier and her Government to heed the lessons of the disastrous privatisation of Newcastle buses. Everybody who has signed this petition is absolutely right in not wanting their bus services privatised; it will end up a much worse service for them. I ask the Premier to reconsider this decision, to reconsider her myopic obsession with privatisation, to keep Sydney buses in public hands and to keep her promises.