Thursday, 19 February 2026

 Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (12:47): My question is for the Minister for Public and Active Transport. Schoolchildren in my electorate are being forced to stand for lengthy journeys on public school buses, which is an enormous safety risk. My constituents are reporting that buses servicing the area in my electorate are not meeting enrolment growth and are frequently leaving children to stand alongside many other students on their long journey to school each day, for some of them a full 40-minute journey. This is not a matter of discomfort or inconvenience, it is an urgent safety matter. Local media last week reported that buses in the Geelong region with 50 seats are regularly carrying up to 72 students, with much of the journey hitting 80 kilometres per hour and some stretches of road with a speed limit of 100 kilometres per hour. Minister, with the City of Greater Geelong already committing to being an active participant in addressing these failures, what steps is your government taking to ensure adequate services to meet enrolment growth and the safety of children taking public transport to school in the Geelong region?