South Australia’s ‘school bus’ minister will replace Mike Rann as Premier
August 1, 2011
The Minster in charge of South Australia’s school buses will replace Premier Mike Rann after a Labor Party factional vote over the weekend removed the party leader from his position.
South Australia’s Education Minister Jay Weatherill will replace Rann at an unspecified time leading up to the state’s 2014 election.
Weatherill could take over as Premier by the end of this year and possibly as soon as mid-September after the current parliamentary recess.
Mike Rann has been South Australia’s Premier for nine years and has faced criticism over the state government’s handling of the privately contracted school bus system through Weatherill’s Department of Education and Early Childhood Services (DECS).
Last month, regional school bus operators picketed State Parliament accusing Rann of abandoning the operators in favour of a large interstate company which had won bids through Weatherill’s department to run school bus services.
Bus and Coach Association of South Australian Sonia St Alban says the Rann Government has overlooked smaller local operators in the DECS school bus tender process.
The BCASA has found support in Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond who says it’s technically possible for the Liberal Party to form government if Rann’s departure sparks as many as four by-elections with other state Labor MPs planning retirement.
A petition organized by the BCASA with Redmond’s support to change the DECS school bus tendering process is currently in circulation and is expected to be presented to South Australia’s parliament when it returns in September.