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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 6 Hansard (17 June) . . Page.. 1637 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

Now Mr Whitecross -

I think it is -

says the decision to allow Deane's to serve passengers within the ACT is in contravention of an Assembly decision of May 31, 1995.

I will come to that in a minute. Mr Downie says:

The resolution said the Government must receive the support of the Assembly before giving approval to any other operators for the provision of scheduled public transport services within the ACT.

... ... ...

The resolution referred to by Mr Whitecross was moved by Greens MLA Lucy Horodny.

In doing so she told the Assembly ...

I quote from the Hansard of 31 May 1995; I am digressing slightly from Mr Downie:

This motion is about the corporatisation, privatisation and leasing of the services and structures of ACTION. It is not about limiting the incidental services provided by interstate operators ...

What the Government has agreed to is in no way in contravention of the motion that was put by Ms Horodny or the decision taken by the Assembly on it. Mr Downie says:

Mr Whitecross said if a private operator were prepared to do the run there must be a demand for the service, and Action should provide it.

This fails to recognise the point that Deane's has not introduced a new service and that any Action customers will not be able to use pre-purchased Action tickets on Deane's buses.

Mr Whitecross also accused the Government of reneging on its enterprise agreement with the TWU, which says there will be no contracting-out of Action services.

No Action service has been contracted-out and, despite claims by Mr Whitecross to the contrary, Action's weekend frequency has remained much the same for many years - hourly on most routes.

The answer is: The TWU's response is irrational and illogical; it is not based on anything of any substance, and neither is Mr Berry's question.

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