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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 3031 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

They are all subsidised, but that does not mean that we cannot make them as efficient as possible and ensure that, as best as they possibly can, they fulfil the needs of the citizens they service. It is true to say - I think everyone would accept it - that they do not make a profit. I cannot think of any one that does, but certainly some are more efficient than others. Since I have been here in this Assembly or observing it, I think all governments have made some attempt to make ACTION more efficient.

My first conscious experience on a bus was when I was about three or four. There have always been problems with various routes. There have always been concerns about how far people need to travel to a bus stop. I can vaguely recall that when I was about four we moved from Ainslie to Narrabundah. The buses did not go further than Griffith. My mother, who was reasonably elderly, had to walk a kilometre or so with shopping and a four-year-old child. That continued for about 18 months until a new bus service was put in. Like Ms Follett, I have travelled on ACTION buses or their predecessors for probably 30 years or more. I think we fully appreciate the need for students, the elderly and other people to use that service. That is why, Mr Berry, this Government, which is very responsive to consultation, appreciated the need of those residents in Scullin to have a bus continue to go from the bus stop outside where they live to Kippax and to Belconnen Mall. There is a real need for that.

I am aware of constant criticisms of ACTION and its predecessors in relation to bus routes, going back to the 1950s. Under the previous Labor Government a number of constituents in Belconnen came to me with problems about proposed changes. That was the case under the first Labor Government and the Alliance Government. There have always been concerns in relation to what the proper bus routes should be. As Mr De Domenico said, now that we have a new ticketing system we have some means of objectively measuring the demand and where and when people actually want to use buses. He quite properly and quite graciously commended the former Government and Mr Lamont and Mr Connolly for introducing that ticketing system. It is an objective and valuable means of targeting where buses need to go. It is something that is being used and is terribly important as we constantly review bus services.

There was some criticism from Mr Wood and Mr Berry in relation to the ACTION planning document that appears to have been leaked. It is only a planning document. Mr Wood criticised Mr De Domenico for floating things and then, if they got a lot of criticism, changing them. That is better than just doing something without going through a consultation process. Certainly, one of the great criticisms in the Second Assembly was about the lack of consultation by the previous Labor Government. At least that document is consultation. At least you can gauge some community reaction and see whether, in fact, the document needs amending and come up with a desirable outcome, as is the case here.

As good local members, both Mr Hird and I spoke to the old people at Scullin. Quite obviously, what was proposed there was wrong, and accordingly it was changed. The people there will probably get a much better service than they have now. Under the present proposals for that particular region, they will actually get a weekday off-peak Kippax shopper service. Those old people like going to the Kippax centre and

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