ABC #399

IN FOCUS
CANBERRA BUS RALLY
‘MUM AND DAD’ BUS
BUSINESSES STAGE
CANBERRA RALLY
A 15-strong convoy of family owned ‘mum and dad’ bus companies from across
Australia made its way to rally outside Parliament House, Canberra, on October
26 to highlight the economic pressures these small businesses are under.
To highlight their plight, the 15
‘desperate’ small bus-company
owners in their buses joined a
convoy that circled the lawn in
front of the Parliament building
in a display of solidarity – organised by
Australian Family Owned Bus Companies.
The buses joined the convoy after meeting
with shadow tourism minister Senator Don
Farrell and Labor MPs Susan Templeman
(Macquarie) and Mike Freelander (Macarthur)
to plead their case, organisers state.
They also spoke with shadow
infrastructure, transport and regional
development minister Senator Catherine
King in a phone conference.
Opposition leader in the Senate
Penny Wong and deputy Leader Kristina
Keneally have agreed to meet in the future,
organisers add.
According to rally spokespeople, as the
“bus industry faces extinction” due to a
range of issues such as “bankruptcy, bank
foreclosures, dangerous decline in mental
health and even suicide threats”, the
nationwide ‘mum and dad’ family owned
and independent bus industry faces such a
demise without a federal government rescue
package because of the impacts of Covid-19.
HOPELESS AND HELPLESS
Owner of Paramount Tours in Bankstown,
NSW, Laura Di Leva, said: “Every kilometre
travelled costs a business owner about $3.50,
so coming to Canberra was a huge sacrifice
that cost each operator hundreds of dollars
(thousands in some cases).”
She thanked politicians for meeting
with five Australian Family Owned Bus
Companies group representatives, but says
small bus company owners felt hopeless.
“They have no work and don’t see anything
changing,” she said.
The ongoing closure of international
Rally spokespeople had a meeting before
the rally with politicians including Labor MP
Susan Templeman (right), pleading their case.
borders had wiped out bus tours to tourist
sites around the nation, slashing operator
income to zero, she says.
Many who relied on the inbound tourism
market had heavily invested in vehicles to
serve the previous demand, she explains.
Now, the hiatus to vehicle repayments
had expired and banks and other lenders
demanded payment, Di Leva states.
Many could not pay and must consider
refinancing their homes or using the equity
in them to meet repayments. Some risked
losing everything, she outlines.
“One operator told me he has to fork
out over $5,000 per month in repayments
starting October,” Di Leva said.
“He doesn’t have that money unless he
sells his house. He’s 75 and was looking into
retiring before the pandemic broke out.
“He can’t even sell his vehicles as no-one
has the money to buy them, and if he sells
at auction he will get only half of their value.”
Domestic border closures have also
impacted the long-distance charter market.
With no indication on when they would
reopen, “…we cannot even plan tours for
the future.”
Many operators had been forced to
deregister vehicles they could not afford to
register, which also axed their potential to
work if circumstances changed, she adds.
All small bus company owners faced
financial hardship, with some facing
bankruptcy, Di Leva states, who says that she
has had zero income for 12 months.
VEHICLE REPAYMENT COSTS
Di Leve sold one of her coaches at a heavily
reduced rate and is looking at selling
another, she confirms.
While she had secured a repayment
deferral extension until February 2021, the
consequence was an extra $1,500 a month,
bringing the monthly total to $7,500 for just
one vehicle, and an additional eight months
to the contract term.
“I don’t see how I can make this repayment
if I don’t have a substantial amount of work,”
she said.
“I will have to draw down on my home loan
to cover just the vehicle repayment costs.”
Also a licensed travel agent, two interstate
and two overseas tours were cancelled and
Di Leva had to refund all her clients, she says.
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ABC November 2020 busnews.com.au