Katter's Australian Party is appealing to the state government to extend COVID-19 transport subsidies to Greyhound Australia to restore a vital bus link from Mount Isa to Tennant Creek.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The only weekly bus service from Mount Isa to Tennant Creek was terminated after COVID lockdowns and travel restrictions, leaving many passengers displaced, with up to 10 people a week left without a way back to their home or work at the height of the pandemic.
One Mount Isa company that helped arrange passenger bus travel to Tennant Creek recorded a 92 per cent drop in business since COVID and fielded regular enquiries from job agencies trying to arrange travel for passengers to work in the Northern Territory.
The shutdown has prevented people from travelling for a range of important purposes, and leaving the local agencies tasked with organising journeys at a loss.
"These agencies interface heavily with each other to get these passengers to and from home or work but now that vital travel link is missing, everyone's at a loss of what to do and the community is struggling to cope," Traeger MP Robbie Katter said.
Mr Katter said the Mount Isa service was part of the Townsville to Tennant Creek line and forms an extremely important passenger and freight connection from the East Coast to Central and Western Australia. The lost service is just one of a staggering 402 weekly services Greyhound has been forced to terminate across Australia as a result of COVID lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Mr Katter's office had communicated with Greyhound Australia which stressed the need for government subsidies to be extended to regain stability and viability in the industry.
Greyhound had appealed for Government support in line with what other carriers have received, but claimed their request hadn't been addressed seriously and their "death warrant" had been signed.
Greyhound was forced to shut down 96 per cent of its services. Despite its competitors Bus Queensland, Qantas and Virgin receiving Government subsidies, Greyhound's requests for funding had been rejected leaving it unable to compete and serve customers on an even playing field.
While the Queensland Government had supported Bus Queensland to run services between Townsville and Mount Isa, the extended service to Tennant Creek offered only by Greyhound was left unsupported, having dire impacts on regional and remote communities.
Mr Katter has written to both the Queensland Ministers for Transport and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships to examine and resolve the issue as a matter of urgency.
READ ALSO: Mount Isa man set for Indigenous marathon
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
Bookmark https://www.northweststar.com.au/
Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Google News