Privatisation to be Key Election Issue in SA

South Australians could be set to punish the Marshall Government over its rush to privatise public transport, with Labor vowing to roll the state’s rail and tram systems back into public hands after the March election.

SA/NT Secretary Darren Phillips says Premier Steven Marshall lied to voters in 2019, repeatedly ruling out privatisation ahead of that state election, then rushing to privatise everything he could get his hands on.

The RTBU has since fought privatisation all the way, including in a rally on the steps of State Parliament in 2019.

“Everything we’ve done as a union has found the public couldn’t see any sense in privatisation, and preferred the public transport system to be in public hands,” Darren said.

“And since privatisation began we’ve seen no improvements, just cuts.

“In his first 18 months in Government, Steven Marshall slashed $46 million from public transport, cut bus services, closed the Passenger Transport Information Centre in the CBD and removed security guards from train lines.

“Since KDA took over the trains they have reduced the number of Passenger

Service Assistants from 86 to 63, 23 fewer positions than promised by the Government.

“They’ve also raised fares, imposed a $5 charge to buy a MetroCard and scrapped two-section Metro tickets – costing regular users an extra $150 a year.”

Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas has vowed an SA Labor Government will bring the state’s trains, trams and their workforces back into public ownership and control.

To do so he will also establish an Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Return of Public Transport Services to investigate how to achieve the reversal, and review clauses in the contract to end the deal, including failure to meet specified performance standards, breaches of the contract, or review clauses.

The commission will also examine the feasibility of returning metropolitan

bus services, privatised by the Liberals in 2000, back into government control.

Darren believes Labor is fair dinkum, and that the South Australian public will back them.

“A survey by SA Unions found the vast majority of voters did not support privatisation, but people felt they couldn’t do anything about it until an election, and that no other action would succeed,” Darren said.

“They could see privatisation of our trams and trains was always purely ideological.

This tram could be going back into public hands.

“Normally governments paint a picture and cut budgets and make areas look bad to justify privatisation, but in this case they didn’t.

“They just claimed the system needed to be modernised and that it was not effective or efficient or world’s best, when actually it is right up there.

“In fact it’s on-time running and customer satisfaction were right up there with the best in the world.”