The Nationals WA: Back to School, Back to Being Forgotten: WA Labor's $2.80 Fare Doesn't Get Regional Kids...

The first week of school in 2026 should be simple. New shoes. Nervous smiles. Parents waving as buses disappear down long, dusty regional roads.

Instead, for far too many families in country Western Australia, the school year has begun with confusion, stress and a familiar message from the Cook Labor Government: you're on your own.

Over summer, WA Labor proudly declared that anyone in Perth can now hop on public transport for just $2.80. Ministers queued up for press conferences. Media releases flew. The self-congratulation was relentless.

But while Perth pats itself on the back, regional families are left asking the obvious question Labor refuses to answer: what about our kids?

Because out here, there is no SmartRider. There is no train every ten minutes. There is no alternative route if the system fails.

There is only the orange school bus.

And under this tired, metro-obsessed government, even that is now under threat.

Across regional WA, families are discovering their children are suddenly ineligible for school bus access. Not because they live next door to the school. Not because circumstances have changed. But because rigid, outdated rules designed in Perth say so.

Worse still, many families are being told the day before, or even the morning of, that their child no longer has a seat on the bus. After uniforms are ironed. After work rosters are set. After parents have done everything asked of them.

Kids who live kilometres from school.
Kids whose parents work shifts.
Kids whose families are doing everything right, only to be told "computer says no".

And when families ask for common sense? They get red tape. When they ask for compassion? They get silence.

This government loves lecturing about "gender equity", so let's talk about the real world impact of these decisions. When a child is denied a bus seat and the family is handed a token "conveyancing allowance", who ends up paying the price?

Almost always, it's the mother. Pulled out of the workforce. Juggling drop-offs and pick-ups.

Forced to absorb yet another cost created by bureaucratic indifference.

That's not progressive. It's outdated. And it's disgraceful.

At the centre of this mess sits Rita Saffioti, a minister far more comfortable announcing discounted train fares in Perth than answering tough questions about regional services.

These issues were raised repeatedly in Parliament throughout 2025. Did the Minister front up? No. First came an Assistant Minister armed with scripted non-answers.

Then the Education Minister rolled out the same tired talking points. The Transport Minister herself couldn't even be bothered showing up.

Respect for regional families, apparently, is optional.

And when Nationals MPs sought meetings to discuss solutions? Flat refusal. Elected representatives trying to advocate for their communities were shut out from discussions with school bus services altogether.

So let's ask the obvious question: what is WA Labor hiding?

Because behind every orange school bus is usually a small, family-run business.

Often multi-generational. Often operating on tight margins. Always deeply embedded in their community.

These operators know the kids by name. They wait if someone is running late. They understand that in the bush, flexibility isn't a luxury, it's essential.

Under WA Labor, their contracts are being torn up without warning.

Not relocated to areas of genuine need. Not restructured. Just cancelled.

Families in Tammin, Yuna, Broomehill and Kojonup are the latest casualties, after another four orange school bus routes were axed. Operators notified by letter. No phone call. No consultation. Decades of service wiped out with the stroke of a bureaucrat's pen.

Now imagine for a moment if this were a heavily unionised industry that donated to the Labor Party.

Do you honestly believe contracts would be cancelled without consultation? That livelihoods would be destroyed without outrage from the frontbench?

Of course not.

But because these are regional businesses. Because these are country families. Because these are kids who don't live within arm's reach of a train station, Labor thinks it can get away with it.

For more than a century, orange school buses have been a lifeline for country kids.

They are as much a part of regional WA as grain silos and footy ovals. Yet this government is systematically dismantling the system, replacing long-standing contracts with short-term tenders designed for bureaucratic convenience, not community need.

The result is predictable. Experienced operators forced out. Families scrambling. Kids missing school. Ministers ducking accountability.

Regional WA doesn't want special treatment. It wants fair treatment.

It wants a government that listens instead of lectures. That adapts policy instead of hiding behind it. That understands a Perth-centric solution doesn't work beyond the metro boundary.

As the school year begins, families should be focused on learning and opportunity. Instead, many are dealing with stress entirely of the government's making.

The Nationals will always stand up for regional kids, regional families and the small businesses that keep our communities alive. We will keep asking the questions Labor refuses to answer.

Because where you live should never determine whether you can get to school. And it's worth a damn sight more than a $2.80 train fare in Perth.