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Speaker 1: We know that there have been hundreds of bus services

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Speaker 1: canceled in and over the last couple of days, wreaking

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Speaker 1: havoc for a lot of people if you do catch

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Speaker 1: the bus to get to work, to get to appointments,

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Speaker 1: for children trying to get to school. Now joining me

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Speaker 1: on the line to talk a little bit more about

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Speaker 1: the situation, it's the Transport Workers Union NT branch Secretary

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Speaker 1: Ian Smith. Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Ian, Good morning Katie. How are you going?

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Speaker 1: Not too bad? Ian? What is the reason from your

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Speaker 1: perspective for all of these cancelations.

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Speaker 2: Well, let's speak. We've we've come out and come out

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Speaker 2: of the panic, and I know we shouldn't probably be

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Speaker 2: behinding behind that now that it's the fact of life

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Speaker 2: that all industries are struggling for the employees because of

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Speaker 2: a bus driving one of them. But you know, we've

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Speaker 2: got the anti social behavior that's occurring on a network.

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Speaker 2: So that doesn't make the job to trap you and

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Speaker 2: then we get the time conditions, that doesn't make the

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Speaker 2: job of cactive. Now, governments are contacted bus contacts out

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Speaker 2: and they've consistently done there and it's probably the lay

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Speaker 2: of the world now, but they don't go in doing so. Technically,

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Speaker 2: the contractors make their money. They have a bucket of money.

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Speaker 2: Is that there less money they send, the more money

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Speaker 2: they make for their shareholders. And we've seen probably over

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Speaker 2: time some of the conditions of bus thriving.

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Speaker 1: So no doubt the privatization, no doubt, that's you know,

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Speaker 1: I had an impact from your perspective. But I mean

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Speaker 1: talking about the safety on the network. Is that making

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Speaker 1: it more difficult for our networks to be able to

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Speaker 1: recruit and retain drivers?

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Speaker 2: Oh? I think so. I think you know, why would

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Speaker 2: you what would you take up a position when you're

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Speaker 2: concerned about your safety about coming home? It's not unscathed.

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Speaker 2: And that's what's happening. And we are working extremely hard

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Speaker 2: with the companies and the govern them, and we've had

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Speaker 2: many conversations with you and your listeners on the same subject.

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Speaker 2: And look how things may even quick enough. Never they

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Speaker 2: never are. Thanks, yes I are. But you know what

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Speaker 2: we really need to see, especially in the Daala network,

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Speaker 2: is the driver the driver protection screen. It's not the cage.

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Speaker 2: What you know, the current cage systems aren't satisfactory. It

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Speaker 2: doesn't protect the driver. We need a screen, a proper

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Speaker 2: divider where the driver can first off, do his job

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Speaker 2: safely and get from point over point B. They've got

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Speaker 2: enough decisions to make.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I one hundred percent agree with you. I

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Speaker 1: think like our drivers need to be safe and it's

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Speaker 1: and it's appalling that they feel as though they're not.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's appalling that the passengers feel that way

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Speaker 1: as well. You know, I was watching some vision that

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Speaker 1: had been shared on social media earlier in the week.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you'd seen it, but it was terrible.

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Speaker 1: It was two women fighting viciously on a bus in

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Speaker 1: Darwin's northern suburbs. I don't know if you've seen that vision.

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Speaker 2: Ian, Yeah, I did say it, and it's very disturbing

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Speaker 2: that that's what occurs in the network, and you know,

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Speaker 2: that's what that's what we need to get on top of.

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Speaker 2: But what I know, what we have been sayings along

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Speaker 2: on time gets protect the driver first, then what happens

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Speaker 2: behind the driver then we can deal with that. And

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Speaker 2: it's encouraging with the trials and everything we've had about

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Speaker 2: seeing people on buses, security guards on buses and extra

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Speaker 2: police and extra tsos, but it's not having the real

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Speaker 2: impact as of yet you know it has to eventually,

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Speaker 2: it has to. Certainly people have to understand if they're

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Speaker 2: gonna misbehave on public transport, they're either not going to

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Speaker 2: be able to get on that because they're going to

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Speaker 2: be bad and that's one thing, or it's going to

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Speaker 2: be further actually taking it because it's such a song

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Speaker 2: cool nut, you know, as I've said, to your goal

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Speaker 2: and you'll listen. So often garlands are sophisticated city. It

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Speaker 2: needs a good topic transport system to ease or the congestion,

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Speaker 2: the cost of living pressures that everybody's facing so that

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Speaker 2: people can do their business. They're getting out vulnerable to

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Speaker 2: school and back again, the elderly to all their appointments,

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Speaker 2: the elderly to all the shopping and people to and

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Speaker 2: from work, and you know, with the number of threats

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Speaker 2: that are being missed at the moment, but that's obviously

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Speaker 2: not happening and that's unsatisfactory. And yes, the quick fix

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Speaker 2: is not going to be quick in my view, other

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Speaker 2: than let's get these trains in place. I know this

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Speaker 2: protody is being developed, but we're not seeing e quickness.

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Speaker 1: Make when do you think we're going to see any

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Speaker 1: kind of improvement in terms of you know, those cancelations

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Speaker 1: and in terms of things improving and buses being able

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Speaker 1: to actually you know, to turn up and be able

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Speaker 1: to bus drivers being able to do their jobs.

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Speaker 2: Ah, look, how long is a piece of strong? I

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Speaker 2: haven't got anything answer, and I don't think anyone has.

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Speaker 2: But we've got to continue to keep working to make

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Speaker 2: bus driving once again an attractive position as it was

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Speaker 2: from many years ago. Most of these bus drivers are

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Speaker 2: do drive buses are people of service. They love servicing

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Speaker 2: the community and they love the customers. What they don't

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Speaker 2: like is the anti social stuff. What they can't handle

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Speaker 2: is that fact. So we need to address that and

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Speaker 2: we've got to keep pushing. So it becomes impertinent that

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Speaker 2: that the streams need to be put in right that

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Speaker 2: is so important from our view, that keeps the drivers

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Speaker 2: completely safe. Then we've got to work on which we

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Speaker 2: are with the government, extra security, extra toss, thet's get

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Speaker 2: greater interventions so that these antisocial deliverance whoever they are,

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Speaker 2: have to act in a proper way so that if

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Speaker 2: they want to use the bus system, yeah I want

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Speaker 2: to do it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yep, fair enough. And as always, I really appreciate

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Speaker 1: your time. We are going to have to leave it there.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so very much for having a chat with

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Speaker 1: me this morning. Thank you