I want to be absolutely clear about something.

The work I do around bus safety, governance and transparency is not about ego and it is not about recognition. My motivation is simple: I want to improve our industry.

I want better governance.

I want proper safety oversight.

I want better data and transparency so that the real risks bus workers face every day are properly understood.

Bus workers carry enormous responsibility. Every day we are responsible for the safety of millions of passengers across towns, cities and rural communities. Yet too often the people who actually do the job are the last to be heard when decisions about our industry are made.

I stand up for bus workers on the issues that affect us every day — fatigue, lack of proper toilet facilities and basic dignity, extreme cab temperatures in hot and cold weather, driving hours and the many operational pressures drivers deal with every shift.

My work on this really began around 2018–2019, inspired in part by the speeches of Tom Kearney at the Bus Workers Conference. Those speeches made it clear that the issues facing bus workers — particularly around safety governance and transparency — needed to be taken seriously and brought into the national conversation.

I was, and still am, deeply disappointed that the amendments relating to safety transparency and reporting were not adopted during the passage of the Bus Services (No.2) Bill. I believe strongly that those proposals would have improved oversight and safety standards across the industry.

But that is not the end of the story.

If anything, it has strengthened my resolve.

That is why I continue to pursue these issues through other avenues — engaging with combined authorities, examining franchising frameworks, submitting FOI requests, analysing governance structures and raising awareness wherever possible.

There are always other opportunities, other routes and other angles to bring these issues into the spotlight.

Because improving safety, governance and standards in our industry is not a one-off campaign.

It is long-term work.

And I intend to keep doing it.