Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with Transport Workers Union President Ian Smith about the calls for increased safety on Darwin's bus network

Transcript

Katie spoke with Transport Workers Union President Ian Smith about the calls for increased safety on Darwin's bus network · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now, last week on the show, you would have heard
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: us speaking with the Transport Workers Union about the calls
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: really for some change when it comes to what is
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: going on on our bus network. We've spoken about a
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: female bus driver being assaulted in what was a pretty
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: terrible situation. Now joining me on the line right now
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: is Ian Smith from the Transport Workers Union. Good morning
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: to you, Ian.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Good morning here.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: You going not too bad now? Ian, I know that
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: the Transport Workers Union really has amped up these calls
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: for some urgent government action to address the safety crisis,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: which you say is englfing the Darwin bus network.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Certainly, certainly is. This is out of control and we
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: need to address it and we need to dress it now.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: So you know, our survey results just don't get any better,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: they continue to get worse. When seventy five percent of
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: people don't feel safe at work, I think that's just
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: completely unacceptable, and one or two people of the drivers
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: reported to us and then isn't consultable. Totally unacceptable. So
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: we need to come up with a plan and we
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: need to fix the talkings. Okay, that's not fixing anything.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: We need some real action and some real plans. So
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: we have had a three step plan which is pretty simple,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: and we're going to keep putting pressure on the pawers
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: to be to make sure this occurs, and we'll be
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: resenting in it. Today's meeting and it's pretty clear there's
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: three parts of it. The first part is the education
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: and yes we've done some good work, more needs to
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: be done. Second of all, Tart two is increased security.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: So security security needs there needs to be more of it.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: They need more power to effect and punish these anti
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: social passengers as passages. And there's got to be consequences
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: for assaulting passengers or public transport workers with heavy fines.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: And we have to incarcipate, incarcerate people if they're gonna
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: act in this anti social in any sential way, there
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: has to be consequent.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: So do you think that there does need to be
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: some mandatory jail time if somebody does assault a bus driver?
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, people should not. They should be should know that
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: they can come to work and be safe, and if
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: they're going to be attacked or here or stabs or anything,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: that should be also cashless ticketing system they be put
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: in place. The less interaction the driver has to have
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: with the passengers, the less chance that's going to be
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: some sort of assault. So system should be in place,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: and we've got to get up better driver protection screens,
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: screens in for coverage so that their space can't be invaded.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: The current screens aren't adequate. As we've found out, it
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: comes to work, but they're not good enough. And all again,
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: other again, buses need to be fitted with automatic whelchair brands.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Drivers can't get it. That and the attack. The incident
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Saturday night is a guys got out of his chair
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: to put the ramp down from a wheelchair bound passenger,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: which is roll was to do, and the guys come
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: from behind him with a hammer. The hammer at ten
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: o'clock at night.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: What when was this when.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: There's a person got a hammer? When was he drolling
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: on Saturday night?
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: And so what happened?
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Well, a passenger, the driver's got out of a chair
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: to assistay a wheelchair bear on passenger off the bus
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: by putting the safety ramp down and apparently when he
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: turned around he's been threatened with a hammer. Now luckily
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: he was uninjured. The hammer wasn't I didn't attack him,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: but they smashed the bus window and disdemned the bus window.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: But in God's name, what was someone getting on a
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: bus at ten o'clock at night with a hammer, for
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: bloody hell, unexfensible. So action has to be taken. Percent
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: drivers fill that's getting worse yep, verbally are sold one
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: uncertain events. It's not good. None and none of the
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: comments the drivers that received through this survey, well it
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: is so deserving. Things need to happen now. Will be
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: tabling this today and with all those results, and we'll
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: be demanding the actions taken and we need to do
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: it quickly because it's only getting worse.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Well, Ian, please let us know how that how that
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: meeting goes today with the government. We'd be very interested
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: to hear their you know, their plan of attack when
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: it comes to some of this terrible, terrible behavior that
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: we've seen on our bus network. Yes, well, yeah, thank you, Illan.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: I appreciate your time this morning.