Regional Public Transport

Mr FATCHEN (Mount Gambier) (15:34): Last week, I received a letter from the Limestone Coast community services round table, which brings together around 90 representatives from community services, health, government, education and advocacy. Their message was clear: improving public transport is one of their highest priorities. I then attended their monthly meeting, where I heard firsthand from more than 40 people working across the community service sector.

I heard about people who cannot take up employment because they cannot get to work, or who have to move to a larger city, people who cannot further their education because the bus does not get them to TAFE or university in time, and people living with a disability who could otherwise travel independently but instead have to use their valuable NDIS funding for a support worker, simply because there is no suitable public transport available. These are not minor inconveniences. They are barriers to employment, education, health care and independence, and they disproportionately affect some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

Mount Gambier's bus network operates on a model that has remained largely unchanged for around 35 years. Today, we still have two buses rotating between three standard loops, operating between 9am and 5pm. There are no evening services, no weekend services and no services on public holidays. How can we seriously expect someone to take up employment when the bus cannot get them there before 9am and cannot get them home after working a normal day? How does someone without a car work in hospitality, retail, aged care or any other industry that requires evening or weekend shifts?

Council's 2025 submission makes clear that the current service is effectively unusable for much of Mount Gambier's workforce. On census day in 2021, just 52 residents used public transport to get to work, compared with more than 10,000 who travelled by car. That is not evidence that Mount Gambier does not need public transport; it is evidence that the service we have is not usable.

The people who do rely on it often have no alternatives. Council's passenger survey found only 33 per cent of bus users had a driver's licence, only 43 per cent had regular access to a vehicle, and 38 per cent identified as living with a disability. Whole areas of our city also remain effectively disconnected. Subdivisions with thousands of residents are bypassed completely, as are our major retirement villages.

The comparison with other regional cities is damning. Mount Gambier, with around 28,000 residents, has three loops operating Monday to Friday, roughly 9 to 5. Devonport in Tasmania, with around 27,000 residents, has six local routes operating seven days a week, approximately 7am to 7.30pm on weekdays, plus three into town services. Even Stawell in Victoria, with a population of around 8,500, has services six days a week, from 7am to 6.15pm.

The national benchmark suggests Mount Gambier is operating a public transport service more appropriate for a town of just 3,000 to 6,000 people. That should be embarrassing for South Australia's second largest city, and the problem is not new. Council undertook an extensive review in 2021, following years of concern. Six out of 10 locals surveyed were dissatisfied, and those findings were provided to the department and SAPTA.

Another regional public transport review was undertaken in 2025 after years of advocacy from council, the previous member for Mount Gambier, community organisations, disability advocates and local residents, and we are still waiting. Our community does not need another review to tell us there is a problem. We know there is a problem. We need the government to release the findings, properly fund regional public transport and deliver the changes our community has been asking for, because access to transport is access to opportunity, employment, education, health care and independence. Mount Gambier deserves a public transport system fit for a major regional city, not one designed for a small town and left largely unchanged for more than three decades.