Near or Far Bus and Coach - Blue Mountains Bus and Coach

21/05/2026

Well written by a man who I do look up to in this industry. His way with words is a talent. A nice piece Alan.

Since the Dailymail has jumped on our last post, to set the record straight we NEVER praised Albo. In fact, I never even voted for Albo. The point of our post was to acknowledge that at least something was being done to address housing affordability, whether right or wrong, but also to address serious dis-information being spread.

The rot that has set into Australia has been going on for many years from both parties. From privatising our assets, giving away our natural resources, encouraging wealth inequality to plain as day high level corruption re-branded as political donations. We should be the richest country in the world - the envy of the world. Instead we have become a laughing stock and sadly us, the people, allowed it to happen.

Nearly every single comment we received was a breath of fresh air that there are intelligent people left in this country - and for that thank you! This post addresses some of the comments as there are far too many to respond to:

You don't need to be intelligent to run a small business, and the stupid memes proved my point. For those who scoffed at what will happen when I retire let me state easy to find fact. There have been zero changes to the small business CGT concessions. Read that again. Nothing has changed. We will not be paying any higher CGT. In fact, we will likely pay zero CGT as we fit under the threshold of $6 million in assets. $6 million??! I've still got to make $5.5 million before I even get close. And do you seriously think I'd be playing with stupid buses if I had $6 million? Even at a crap term deposit of 4.7%, I'd earn $282,000 in interest alone on $6m, which is significantly more than I earn now.

Do not believe that every business owner is rich. Do not believe every business is sale-able. No fool would buy my business that has no contracts, no guarantee of work, no certainty with locations because we can't own our depots and is made up of ageing, depreciating buses. Please someone pay me millions for my business. I'd happily pay the CGT.

We are profitable. When I started this business I aspired to be obscenely rich. After working 6 months it was obvious I would never be filthy rich. It has given me a comfortable life but more importantly I get to control my destiny, work with my best mates and get to hand-pick all the absolute legends I work with. Plus I get to play with my passion: vehicles. I don't want my kids to follow my dream. I want them to follow their own and actually have opportunities.

If the previous generation worked hard, they got ahead and lived a comfortable life. My generation is riddled with a life time of debt with the majority counting on inheritance to loosen the noose around their necks. My kids will be cooking me a special Beef Wellington before they even have a chance to get ahead unless housing affordability is addressed urgently. I am not ready to die yet.

The majority of tax income of near 50% comes from PAYG individuals. But let's break it down a bit more honestly. Twenty percent are public servants, so their tax income is the government's money going around in circles. Business actually creates real tax income for the government - of which yes employees pay far too much. As a company, I too draw a wage and likewise pay income tax the same as everyone else. I also pay company tax, which only makes up 20% of the overall tax revenue, but that is because offshore companies pay next to zero, so it is Australian businesses and Mum & Dad businesses footing this bill. Then add GST, payroll tax, land tax and stamp duty, and I can assure you businesses contribute more than you realise. Meanwhile old mate with his investment properties is paying less tax, proudly making money out of the basic necessity of life which is a roof over your head, and celebrating when property prices become out of reach for everyday Australians.

I don't mind paying tax. When a fellow Australian has a disabled child, I'm proud to know he or she will be looked after. Where I come from, they will starve to death, living on the streets. I can walk the streets knowing social security means the risk of getting mugged is extremely low. If I listened to Pauline Hanson in the 90's to "go back where you came from" I couldn't walk around carrying my phone, and would need a decoy wallet ready for a robbery. Luckily Asians aren't Paulines target anymore. It is all the fault of the Middle Easterns now. Sucks to be them.

So the point of this post:
1 - Do not get fooled by mainstream media controlled by the elite. These are the same elite who convinced everyone to send their sons to fight in Vietnam - so long as it wasn't their son.
2 - Take an interest in politics and fight for what is right for our country
3 - If we really need to march on Canberra, rest assured my coaches can fit the guillotines underneath.

02/04/2026

Seclusions ......a beautiful place to visit and stay.

31/03/2026

What an interesting time to be running a transport company out of The Blue Mountains.
With fuel costs at an all time high, we were pleased to hear the federal government reduced the fuel excise, a reduction of around 26 cents per litre. That adds up when we are using thousands of litres of fuel and we welcome relief for families.....But wait, the government has stripped us of the 20 cent fuel tax credits that we can claim....but wait....we will see a reduction of the heavy vehicle usage charge, giving some much needed relief for all sectors of the heavy vehicle transport industry. We are better off.
We have absorbed the fuel costs to date but we will need to add a fuel surcharge in the coming week. We do hope you understand and we apologise for this. It is hard to keep absorbing such huge costs.

To hear BMCC is closing the road to Mt Wilson, whilst needed, is disappointing and further complicates our operations for our wonderful wedding guests and families and stops the local Mt Wilson Gardens and venues from trade. This is another blockade for us and for other Blue Mtns Businesses too. We had a vehicle damaged coming out of Mt Wilson late last year due to road works and the lack of comms from council late last year - signage was not correctly operational at the time. After this we limited all movements in the area to minibuses. And no surprises everyone ran away from any responsibility. Council is aware of communications issues to operators regarding roads and the like, this was a significant contribution to the issue that occured.
We are grateful to Ask Roz Blue Mountains for their notification. We are working with venues and couples to rearrange transport options.
This, with the closure of Victoria Pass, Jenolan Caves and the relentless exclusion by the local tourism body in the area has impacted us. (We eagerly await more unhelpful comments from the BMT President claiming there is a level playing field out there. Check out the transport landing page on the BMT website and see just how level the playing field isn't)

On the flip side we are extremely grateful to the office of Jenny Aitchison MP who has had staff, namely Sarah who were able to assist us with some concerns. Her kindness to listen to us was greatly appreciated.
Whilst the closure of roads is an accumulation of lack of attention from differing governments, the continuing freshening off the road surface of The Darling Causeway is noticed and welcomed.

We are thankful that we have been able to provide our community with extra bus services from Katoomba to Bathurst. We will strive to look after you all the best way we can.
Lastly, thankyou to our amazing team who are keeping our coaches moving.
Also our appreciation goes to BAM Heavy Vehicle Repairs and Jonathon Fitz at Katoomba Tyres and Clancys at Penrith too who keep our vehicles running.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter and take care out there.

27/03/2026

Thankyou to Michael Connolly and Ask Roz Blue Mountains for sharing this news.

19/03/2026

Yesterday was bus driver appreciation day. A huge out to all of our staff that keep us moving everyday.
THANKYOU!!!

12/03/2026

Wheelchair accessible transport for The Blue Mountains.
This has just shown up at our depot.
34 seat-belted coach style seats.
1 wheelchair position and 30 seats
2 wheelchair positions and 26 seats with more wheelchair places available as needed.

Transport for everyone.

09/03/2026

The hurdles continue to be placed.
Fuel price hikes and fuel shortages are now a reality, all within days.
Alongside the closing of The Great Western Highway, adding to significant time and distance on the road, more fuel and more costs.
Weeks of cancelled work due to the wet weather.
All with the undercurrent of the incredible behaviour of Blue Mountains Council and ensuring that only Blue Mtns Tourism and their private companies are supported. How can our governments and council only support one bus / private company over another? Feels like COVID again. Our politicians know and as usual their silence is deafening.This sucks

07/03/2026

To our customers and community:
The events in The Middle East are saddening and concerning. We think of all of the people affected.
The ripples have made their way to our shores too. We are keeping a close eye on the situation, especially looking at fuel supply and costs.
This week alone we have seen our fuel costs rise around 30%. We are absorbing these costs at the moment. There is a line when we won't be able to absorb this rise in fuel let alone other issues such as parts supplies.

We have come up some ideas that could potentially save us some costs:

✅️Having some passengers push the buses

✅️Leave luggage behind

✅️Run air conditioners on fan only

✅️Using the trains to get people up the hill.

😛📧Also, if anyone has the accounts address for Mr Trump, we can send him an invoice to cover the costs of increased fuel pricing.

We are monitoring the situation and are hoping the situation will settle.

EDIT Apparently this goes against Facebook Standards for political statements....that speaks volumes!!

23/02/2026