Brisbane’s rail and bus union has called on Lord Mayor Graham Quirk to “stop dancing like a puppet to Campbell Newman” and publicly rebuff the State Government’s transport privatisation agenda.
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Cr Quirk revealed two weeks ago Brisbane City Council’s transport arm will be forced to compete against private operators in late 2015 to retain control of the 70 per cent of the city’s bus routes it presently operates.
The State Government contestability process, which Transport Minister Scott Emerson has denied is privatisation by stealth, has been borne partly from the government’s commitment to keep fare rises at just 2.5 per cent per year.
On Friday, the Queensland branch of the rail, tram and bus union joined council’s opposition leader Milton Dick to launch a citywide petition on behalf of Brisbane Transport bus drivers to oppose potential privatisation of the city’s bus network.
The union’s state president Bruce Mackie said the city’s commuters would suffer should operational responsibility for the network fall into private hands.
“The fact is contestability is government speak for privatisation,” he said.
“Contestability, privatisation, goes hand-in-hand with the Newman Government’s agenda.
“The people of Brisbane deserve the best bus service, not the cheapest service, it is those unprofitable areas where we run a service because it is a service.”
Cr Quirk, a long time opponent of privatising the city's public transport network, said two weeks ago that Brisbane Transport would "aggressively" fight to retain operational responsibility of the network.
But he conceded the ultimate decision was out of City Hall’s hands, with the state government to make the ultimate decision on the matter.
Both Mr Mackie and Cr Dick said on Friday the Lord Mayor needed to publicly oppose the premier’s contestability process for the benefit of the city’s commuters.
“I think it’s time the Lord Mayor of Brisbane stood up to Campbell Newman and said you are not going to privatise the city of Brisbane’s bus services. The fact is, people deserve that public transport,” he said.
“It’s time he started saying, ‘you are not going to destroy the public transport services in my city,’ and he needs to be in the media saying that.”
Cr Dick said the contestability process was the first step in selling off the city’s bus infrastructure, a claim Cr Quirk has repeatedly denied.
“This is the first step to selling off the buses in our city, the Lord Mayor needs to stand up to Campbell Newman, he need to fight for the commuters in our city, he needs to tell Campbell Newman and Scott Emmerson that Brisbane Transport is not for sale.
“As yet, he hasn’t done that.”
The council’s public transport chairman Peter Matic said Cr Dick’s claims of privatisation were nothing more than a scare campaign.
“These false claims are a cheap political stunt with no truth,” Cr Matic said.
“The Lord Mayor has previously said he does not support the privatisation of Brisbane Transport and has made it very clear on several occasions that Council will not be conducting a bus review this year.
“Council will be contesting the tender process once the State Government announces the details of contestability and we will be competing to win,” he said.
The current controversy over potential privatisation was sparked when council’s civic cabinet opted not to renew the long-time head of Brisbane Transport Allan Warren.
Mr Warren said in a memo to his 2700 employees council was seeking a “new dawn” for its transport arm.
