Complaints about U-Go Mobility bus services have dropped by 92 per cent and cancellations to one per cent

Ms Haylen gave an update in State Parliament this week on services in St George and Sutherland Shire in response to a question from Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart.

Ms Haylen said since a Transport for NSW team was deployed to assist the operator, complaints had dropped by 92 per cent and cancellations had dropped to one per cent.

Ms Haylen said the former government decided to privatise our local bus services to the lowest bidder.

"Our Bus Industry Taskforce found that those opposite ripped more than $375 million out in operational savings in that process," she said.

"But, they did not return any of that to the community, particularly for the growth needed for bus services in the growing communities of western and southwestern Sydney."

Ms Haylen said, on December 22 last year, a contract was awarded to a newly formed joint venture called U-Go Mobility, which transitioned into operating that service on July 1, 2023.

"It was an entity with absolutely no local experience, but those opposite awarded it a contract over a locally operated, long-term family business," she said.

"The new operator had more experience, to be frank, on the streets of Singapore than on the streets of Sutherland.

"And it showed, because within three weeks of the operation - the start of third [school] term, actually - it became clear that the operator had not secured the drivers that it needed to deliver the service that it was contracted to provide.

"Not only did the company fail to engage with its workforce but we also know that it failed to pay some of its drivers for shifts that they worked. No wonder we lost those essential bus drivers delivering that essential service. "

Opposition Leader Mark Speakman took a point of order, asking "Why did [Ms Haylen] do nothing for three months after the government was elected?"