Budgets always throw up stories you don’t expect. Cuts were expected in this Budget, but the extent and depth of many of them suggest less of a ‘laser-like focus’ as claimed by the Government, and more of a random grab bag. That happens when you cut $10bn from public services. But nowhere is this truer than in the cut to bus driver terms and conditions – and cuts to expected services.
Many New Zealanders will remember the badly-named “Bustastrophe”, where the combined impact of the departure of older bus drivers (exposed to Covid one too many times) and the industry’s failure to recruit new drivers (read: the borders were closed), meant critical shortages of bus drivers and thousands of cancellations across networks.
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