School Student Transport Scheme

Mr PHOTIOS: My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Transport, and Minister for Tourism. Is it a fact that the cost per student for free school transport will rise to $500 by 1997? Does the $450 cap on free transport mean that in 1997 every school student in urban areas will pay to travel to school regardless of how poor they are, how old they are, or where they live?

Mr LANGTON: It is nice to hear from the honourable member for Ermington now and again. I understand that the good people of Ermington hardly ever see him. In my travels around New South Wales as Minister for Tourism I get to see a few places. One of the most delightful places I have visited is a winery west of Mudgee, where I came across something that reminded me of the honourable member for Ermington. I thought I had heard the name before: it is what they call him in his electorate. They call him Seldom Seen.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Minister will answer the question.

Mr LANGTON: I understand it is a cheeky little red. The school student transport scheme, revisions to which were announced in the budget yesterday, remains by far the most generous school transport subsidy scheme of any in Australia.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Monaro to order for the second time.

Mr LANGTON: I ask honourable members to compare the New South Wales scheme with those in States governed by the conservatives. In Victoria the distance criterion is 4.8 kilometres - not to the school a student attends but to the nearest school. A student who lives more than 4.8 kilometres from the nearest school is eligible for free transport, but apart from that must pay. The distance criterion in South Australia is 5 kilometres, again not to the school a student chooses to attend but to the nearest school. In Western Australia the criterion is 4.5 kilometres to the nearest school; in Queensland it is 3.2 kilometres for primary school students and 4.8 kilometres for high school students, but again to the local school. Yesterday we increased, by a mere 400 metres, the radial distance from the student's residence to the school attended. Does the honourable member for Ermington have something to say?

Mr Photios: On a point of order: Mr Speaker, we understand that the Minister for Transport was present in the Chamber when you earlier ruled that rhetorical questions designed to exploit and disrupt
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this Chamber should not and would not be entertained. Knowing full well that I was on three calls, appropriately and fairly called by you, Mr Speaker, the Minister for Transport asked me whether I had something to say. I sure have, but I will say it elsewhere.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! Earlier I directed that members not interrupt the responses of Ministers. The honourable member for Ermington might wish to abide by that ruling.

Mr LANGTON: If I were to ask a rhetorical question, I would ask the honourable member for Ermington if he is going to commit the Opposition to reinstating the scheme. But, of course, I would not do that. The scheme remains by far the most generous of any in Australia.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Davidson to order for the second time.

Mr LANGTON: Extension of the criterion by 400 metres, from 1.6 to 2 kilometres, only, applies to high school students. Primary school students will continue to have the 1.6 kilometre radial criterion, and children in infants classes remain totally exempt from any distance criterion whatsoever. The cost per child of free school student transport in New South Wales is approximately $445 per year - an enormous cost. To put the matter in context, in 1970 the cost was approximately $13 million to taxpayers. By 1994-95 that cost had risen to $324 million, and without any change this year it would have been $350 million. As the Premier correctly pointed out, without any changes that cost would have reached almost $450 million by 1999. A tough, intelligent decision had to be made - a decision which the Opposition, when in government, did not have the intestinal fortitude to make. When that issue went to Cabinet the previous Government kept getting weak-kneed about it. But a decision had to be made.

The Government has decided that from 1997 - not 1996 - in urban areas only, in Newcastle, the central coast, Sydney and the Illawarra, there will be a cap of $450 per student. That means we will continue to contribute up to $450 worth of free travel for every child going to school in New South Wales. Given that the cost this year is about $445 per child, the continued contribution represents an increase in average expenditure per child going to school in New South Wales this year. I do not know what the Opposition's bleatings are about. They are the people who twice tried to get this measure up in Cabinet. They knew something had to be done but they lacked the statesmanship required to get it done.

This Government is giving parents a choice, and they will have 15 clear months to make their educational decisions for 1997. Nothing could be more equitable than that. The measure will be phased in over 15 months. It gives every parent of school-age children 15 months to make those important educational decisions. Just as importantly, it also gives the private bus industry in New South Wales 15 months to restructure. The Government has considered all aspects of this proposal. We have considered the needs of parents, the children and the operators. We have made a decision which is fair and equitable. Most importantly, it is the right decision for New South Wales and for the future of this State's economy. It is the right decision for the educational future of our children.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Davidson to order for the third time.

Mr LANGTON: The honourable member has something to say now, has he? I reiterate that outside the areas of Newcastle, Central Coast, Sydney and Wollongong there will be no cap. In other words, children going to school and living in any part of rural New South Wales will have no cap applicable to them. They will be able to travel any distance whatsoever to get to the nearest school. The Government acknowledges, of course, that in areas outside the urban areas of the Hunter, the Illawarra and Sydney children travel long distances to school. School children in those areas will not be subject to the cap, and their total travel will continue to be free. This is the right decision for New South Wales, for parents, for children, and for the operators.