IN FOCUS
MELBOURNE PROTEST BUS
MELBOURNE OPERATOR TAKES PROTEST BUS TO THE STREETS Victorian border closure uncertainty – affecting a charter bus business’s ability to reliably plan and honour tour bookings – plus Melbourne’s strict metro lockdown restrictions forced one local family owned and run bus operator to visibly protest his plight and put more than half of his bus fleet up for auction to help pay a spiralling multi-million dollar debt.
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aurie Pincini of Rockleigh Tours drove his protest bus around Melbourne metro precinct recently, covered in anti-Victoria premier Dan Andrews slogans. Pincini says his business is “going backwards” and that “it’s screwed”, after having to put 12 of his 22 buses up for auction. Speaking exclusively to ABC, he said that he has had to diversify his workload to include hay bailing and silage trucking to keep money flowing and help reduce a $3.8 million (and growing) debt – Pincini recounted a harrowing financial predicament being felt by charter bus operators Australia-wide. “We are driving silage trucks, we are doing hay contracting, we’re doing anything to try to make a dollar, mate – we’ve been closed since March 16,” Pincini said. “I’ve had one bus a day, or you know a couple out… Out of the 22 buses, the maximum I’ve had [doing] work has been five in one day doing V/Line at night-time, at 3.00am, 4.00am in the morning. That doesn’t’ pay the bills when it costs us $200K a month to open the door and you’ve only got $50K a month coming in. 40
“We’ve been in the bus game now for just on 75 years. We employ my sons, my daughters, my sons-in-laws, uncles, fathers in-laws, bloomin’ my kid’s uncle’s brothers-in-laws plus families and everything in the local community. “Come the end of December and something opens and goes bang! They are all out of work because JobKeeper doesn’t work past then when I’ve got to pay them the 20 hours a week. I can’t afford it!” When asked what the motivation behind the protest bus was, Pincini referred comparatively to the situation in NSW and
said: “It’s been causing waves; it’s all around the world.” The bus started doing the rounds recently when the amended Victorian Omnibus bill – still contentiously interpreted by pro-democracy civil libertarians while championed and defended by premier Daniel Andrews MP – was passed.
THE STRESS Asked about the stress and impact this is all having on his family and himself, Pincini replied: “Well, mate – I’ve called Beyond
ABC November 2020 busnews.com.au
ABC_399_040-41_InFocus_Dan Andrews protest bus FC.indd 40
16/11/2020 12:13:10 PM
