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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (21 February) . . Page.. 114 ..

MR DE DOMENICO: Mr Speaker, I will answer the second question first. Of course Mrs Carnell has kept her promise. Unlike members opposite, Mr Speaker, what this Government promises, even though we have been in government for only about 12 months, we deliver, and we deliver at about four times the rate of the mob on the other side. Mr Whitecross, as is the usual bent of members of the Opposition, sees one side of the story and not the other. It is true that, whilst some services in some areas will be different from what they are now and some areas will even have fewer services, Mr Whitecross, areas like Gungahlin will have more. What happens, Mr Whitecross, is that we provide extra services when we have people who want to use them. There is no use in providing buses with no-one on them. When we have the automatic ticketing system, Mr Whitecross, you would also realise that we have had to rationalise some services. For example, there is one bus service at 6.39 in the morning from North Canberra that over about a two-week period had no-one on it. Is it not commonsense, Mr Whitecross, to get rid of that service because no-one wants to use it and provide a service in an area that does not have one? The answer to that, Mr Speaker, is that of course it is.

This Government, Mr Whitecross, will continue to do the right thing by the commuters of the ACT, unlike some of the ACTION bus drivers who park them in the middle of the street. We do not want that. It is very hard to get onto a bus if it is not running. We will make sure that we make them run, and we will make them run at the times that people want them to run and go to the places that people want them to go to.

MR WHITECROSS: Mr Speaker, I am sure the residents of Tuggeranong will be relieved that their services have not been reduced.

Ms Follett: They have just gone to Gungahlin.

MR WHITECROSS: They just have to move to Gungahlin to catch the bus now. Mr Speaker, my supplementary question is this: Following on from the Minister's bold boast about magnetic ticketing, will the Minister table in the Assembly the information gathered from the magnetic ticketing system on the usage of ACTION bus services that led to the new timetable?

Mrs Carnell: No; because they are not bloody-well taking the tickets.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MR DE DOMENICO: Can I answer the question, Mr Speaker?

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, Mrs Carnell just said, "No, they are not because they are not bloody-well taking the tickets".

MR SPEAKER: Do you withdraw, Mrs Carnell?

Mrs Carnell: I withdraw.

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