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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 3034 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

Mr Moore took the view that this motion was going to lock us into a particular route, a particular set of streets down which a particular bus could go, and that therefore it was overly inflexible and should be rejected. That is simply not the case. All that this motion says is that the Government should not cut services to Kippax and should make sure that there is a public transport service to the residents of Collingrove Court. It says nothing about not making any changes to any routes. It just says not to cut services. It does not say that they cannot find a more effective way of delivering the services, but it says not to cut the services.

Mr De Domenico: What if the more effective way is to cut some services?

MR WHITECROSS: Mr De Domenico compounds his reputation in the community by saying that, in his opinion, the best way of improving the service is to cut it. We did not need that confirmation, but there it is anyway. Mr De Domenico says that the best way to improve the service is to cut it. Have we not seen him improving the ACTION bus services in Canberra? He cut 10 per cent of the services in Tuggeranong at the beginning of this year. Mr De Domenico consulted about that. We all saw how he consulted. He put a thick book in a tent at the Canberra show and said, "Write down any comments you have". That is his idea of consultation. Then they published the Bus Book as written. That is what I call consultation! Mr De Domenico's model of consultation is to announce what you are going to do and say, "What do you think?". If anybody bothers to tell them what they think, they ignore it and do what they were going to do anyway. That is Mr De Domenico's model of consultation.

Mr De Domenico has "improved" services in Tuggeranong by cutting 20 per cent of the services there. He cut 10 per cent of the services across Canberra in the last Bus Book, but he did not cut a lot of services in Belconnen, so he said to his department, "Oh, my goodness! We cut services in lots of other parts of Canberra, but we did not really do a job on Tuggeranong. You had better go back and see whether you can do a job on Tuggeranong". He has his department trying to figure out how to improve services in Tuggeranong, just as they improved them in Weston Creek, just as they improved them in Tuggeranong, just as they improved them in North Canberra.

Ms Follett: And the Causeway.

MR WHITECROSS: And just as they improved the services in the Causeway.

Mr De Domenico: Tell us what you would do, Einstein. Instead of whingeing and moaning, tell us what you would do.

MR WHITECROSS: Mr De Domenico wants to know - - -

Mr De Domenico: You are a whinger.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

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