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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2939 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (continuing):

For the information of Mr Berry and others who want to listen, ACTION will also be looking at the number of buses that go to Kippax in comparison with those that go to other surrounding group centres such as Charnwood and Hawker. Another initiative that ACTION will be putting forward for public comment is the introduction of an off-peak shoppers service from the very suburbs Mr Berry is talking about to the Kippax centre. Mr Berry did not talk about that.

Finally, Mr Berry has been doing some scaremongering amongst the elderly residents living in Collingrove Court in Scullin, saying that route 409 is to be changed and that they will lose their service to Kippax. You are a disgrace, Mr Berry, because you are wrong again. Under the proposals to be put out for public comment, the services for those residents to both Belconnen and Kippax will be retained. I will repeat that. Under the proposals the services of all those residents to both Belconnen and Kippax will be retained and will stop at exactly the same place. Mr Berry, you are wrong again. Whatever piece of paper you are reading from is the wrong bit of paper, Mr Berry. A simple phone call to my office, to ACTION or to anybody else who would know anything about this would have confirmed this fact. Nothing has been decided yet. All of the proposals coming out of the current review will be the subject of a public consultation process to commence within a few weeks. The result will not be a cut in services but better, more targeted services, with buses going where Belconnen residents want them to go. Why let the truth get in the way of a Chronicle story? That is what Mr Berry's attitude is like.

This brings me to another point - Mr Berry's total disregard for this Assembly. As I said before, he does not come into this Assembly to say anything; he goes to the media first. In conclusion, if Mr Whitecross has any skerrick of leadership in his bones he will tell his deputy, soon to be leader, "For heaven's sake, do not go out there scaremongering. If you want to know the facts, ring up the people who can answer the question. Do not play politics with the community, especially when that community happens to be in your electorate".

MR HIRD: I ask a supplementary question. I am delighted, Minister, to learn that we are taking the appropriate steps to introduce a shoppers special service.

MR SPEAKER: Ask your supplementary question, Mr Hird.

Mr Berry: Mr Speaker, this is a supplementary question that arises from the substantive question. I wonder whether Mr Hird would mind just tabling it or putting it straight into Hansard rather than reading it.

MR SPEAKER: He will not be tabling anything, but he will be asking his supplementary question without preamble.

MR HIRD: Is it true that this new off-peak shoppers service, which will assist my constituents in Belconnen, will, as I understand it, be starting within the next two weeks, Minister?

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