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Speaker 1: So if you are a parent sending your kids to

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Speaker 1: school on the bus, no doubt you expect that they're

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Speaker 1: going to arrive there on time and certainly safely. But

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Speaker 1: it wasn't the case yesterday. There was a situation where

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Speaker 1: kids were left where they weren't supposed to be, some

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Speaker 1: distance from where they need to be, having to walk

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Speaker 1: to school or obviously to home. Now a concerned parent,

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Speaker 1: Mel and her daughter Lily joined me in the studio

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Speaker 1: right now. Good morning to you, boss, Good morning now, Mel,

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Speaker 1: tell me what happened yesterday morning for you.

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Speaker 2: I was at work and mister call from Lily and

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Speaker 2: when I called her back, she said to me, Mum,

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Speaker 2: I'm in the middle of nowhere in Berrima and the

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Speaker 2: bus driver kicked me off. And I'm like, I just

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Speaker 2: started panicking, thinking what's happened?

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Speaker 3: I said, where are you?

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Speaker 2: She was trying to describe the back of a kindy

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Speaker 2: an RSPCA.

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Speaker 3: So I sort of started.

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Speaker 2: Thinking, you know, on the way to Jbhi Fi. And

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Speaker 2: I said, I'll call the bus company and see what's happened,

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Speaker 2: and then I'll come and pick you up. I couldn't

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Speaker 2: get through to the bus company. The phone rang out,

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Speaker 2: So I just jumped in my car and just took

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Speaker 2: off and found her on the side of the road.

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Speaker 1: And Lily, what state were you in when your mum

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Speaker 1: found you? Were you pretty worried?

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Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, I didn't really know where I was.

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Speaker 4: It was like just dirt around me, and I was

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Speaker 4: not walking to school because it was so far.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Well, and if it weren't one hundred percent sure where

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Speaker 1: you were at that point, it'd be pretty hard to

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Speaker 1: get yourself the whole way to school. So tell me

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Speaker 1: what kind of happened before that point. Do you usually

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Speaker 1: get dropped right to school or what usually happens?

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Speaker 4: I get dropped off along McMillan's just there's a bus

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Speaker 4: stop just before Mulla Road, but my bus driver went

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Speaker 4: past it, and then I told him when we got

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Speaker 4: to Marara Christian College that he went past my stop,

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Speaker 4: and then he just closed the doors and blamed it

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Speaker 4: on me for not telling him.

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Speaker 1: And so what happened next?

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Speaker 4: And then he started driving towards Hailbury because that's the

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Speaker 4: next school stop, and then instead of dropping me off

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Speaker 4: at Hailebury, he just pulled over on this like some

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Speaker 4: random bus stop on Vandalin and just told me to

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Speaker 4: get out.

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Speaker 1: Were you pretty scared at that point? Yeah, I mean

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Speaker 1: were you thinking what we're sort of thinking? Where am

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Speaker 1: I going to go? Well? What's going to happen?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: I had no idea where to go because I was like,

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Speaker 4: I've never been here.

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Speaker 1: And like, usually do I guess this is a question

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Speaker 1: for both of you. Usually do you find that you

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Speaker 1: are getting to school or at least to the bus

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Speaker 1: stop where you're meant to be going.

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Speaker 4: I mean most days I end up at the bus

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Speaker 4: stop and meant to be but like there's been multiple

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Speaker 4: times I've been dropped off at the wrong place.

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Speaker 1: Bill, it must be pretty worrying, because I guess once

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Speaker 1: the kids get on that bus, you do think, all right,

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Speaker 1: well it's a it's a pretty structured route. You expect

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Speaker 1: them to be able to get to where they're meant

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Speaker 1: to go.

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Speaker 2: And I've already left for work, my husband's already left

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Speaker 2: for work, so we just assume Lily's gonna get to

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Speaker 2: school safely. And even sometimes in the afternoon runs, I'll

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Speaker 2: get a phone call from Lily where she's because they

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Speaker 2: catch a connecting bus from a Lachland to Marra and

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Speaker 2: she'll get to Marra and the school's closed and the

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Speaker 2: bus drivers just dump them there and there's no way

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Speaker 2: then for them to catch a connecting bus.

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Speaker 3: So it's been happening a lot recently.

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Speaker 2: And what concerns me, I think is the lack of

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Speaker 2: regard that the drivers seem to have for the children's

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Speaker 2: well being.

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Speaker 3: It's really concerning well, and it's hard. I guess.

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Speaker 1: You know, they've got their job to do in the

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Speaker 1: sense that they're trying to get somewhere at certain times,

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Speaker 1: and they're told which routes they've got to drive, but

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Speaker 1: then you've got kids on there that you want to

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Speaker 1: make sure they're getting to where they need to be safely.

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Speaker 2: Yes, And I think my concern is, and I have

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Speaker 2: raised it many times over the last twelve months, is

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Speaker 2: that the drivers may just pick up a shift in

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Speaker 2: the morning because I understand there's a shortage, and I

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Speaker 2: understand they're struggling to find drivers, but they're not sure

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Speaker 2: of where they're going, and they're driving past stops where

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Speaker 2: kids are waiting, they're missing stops altogether.

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Speaker 3: So I think it's a training issue.

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Speaker 2: I think something needs to be done before something happens.

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Speaker 2: And I'm just lucky that Lily called me. She didn't

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Speaker 2: want to get off the bus, and she said no,

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Speaker 2: and he said get off the bus.

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Speaker 1: Well, and look, I've got I do have a child

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Speaker 1: that catches bus. Catches the bus to school on occasion

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Speaker 1: as well, in same situation where she said that the

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Speaker 1: driver's gone past the bus stop where they're meant to

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Speaker 1: be picking up other kids. Fortunately, the kids have sort

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Speaker 1: of said, look, you need to go back to that stop,

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Speaker 1: and they have on that occasion turned around. But like

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Speaker 1: you touched on before, for parents, if you know you're

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Speaker 1: at work already, you are expecting that it's going to

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Speaker 1: be a consistent service.

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Speaker 3: I think that's what it is.

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Speaker 1: It's that consistency and knowing that they're going to be

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Speaker 1: exactly where they're meant to be at that time.

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Speaker 2: And I think it's the reliability as well, because now

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Speaker 2: she doesn't I want to catch the bus to school

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Speaker 2: because she might not get there. And again this morning

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Speaker 2: he missed her stop.

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Speaker 4: I told her not several times this morning. He asked

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Speaker 4: me when I got on the bus where my stop was,

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Speaker 4: and I told him exactly where it was, and he

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Speaker 4: still missed it. Yeah, and he pulled up at the

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Speaker 4: wrong stop and I said, no, it's not this stop,

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Speaker 4: it's the next stop. And then he went straight past

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Speaker 4: the stop, so I told him just to let me

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Speaker 4: off the bus at a different stop.

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Speaker 2: Well, so I guess there's a communication break down somewhere

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Speaker 2: if they're not sure of where they're going in the mornings.

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Speaker 2: Or is it a training issue because the kids are

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Speaker 2: told not to talk to the drivers, don't argue with

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Speaker 2: the drivers, show respect.

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Speaker 3: But it's going to be both ways too, I think,

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Speaker 3: And so.

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Speaker 1: Mel have things changed over recent times. Has the actual

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Speaker 1: bus route changed as well?

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Speaker 3: Yes.

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Speaker 1: So.

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Speaker 2: Previously this particular route, the number sixty, used to go

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Speaker 2: to o'lachlan, and due to numbers last year around May,

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Speaker 2: they put out a public notice and have changed it

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Speaker 2: to not include o lachlan, just due to two in

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Speaker 2: the morning and six in the afternoon. So that's why

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Speaker 2: they get dropped off at McMillan's and Muller and I

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Speaker 2: have been asking and campaigning for it to be changed.

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Speaker 2: Even during the wet season. She'll come to school soaking

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Speaker 2: wet from that walk.

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Speaker 3: But I haven't had much luck.

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Speaker 2: Yesterday was really unsafe and worrying, so I'd love for

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Speaker 2: something to be looked at.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, look, we have asked the Minister for Education

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Speaker 1: about it and we'll certainly follow that up and see.

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Speaker 1: You know what the response is, I guess to try

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Speaker 1: and make sure that the kids aren't in a situation

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Speaker 1: where that is happening. And I understand that they're like

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Speaker 1: you've touched on, you know, we understand that there is

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Speaker 1: a shortage of bus drivers, and I know that they've

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Speaker 1: definitely got schedules that they've got to stick to and

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Speaker 1: that kind of thing, but we do, you know, we

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Speaker 1: want the kids to be where they're supposed to be

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Speaker 1: at the on the route and on the schedule that

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Speaker 1: they are meant to be or Mel and Lily, thank

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Speaker 1: you both very much for coming in this morning and

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Speaker 1: having a chat to us and bringing it to our attention.

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Speaker 1: We appreciate it.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Katie, appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: Thank you.