Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 6 Hansard (19 June) . . Page.. 1837 ..

MR KAINE: No, Mr Speaker, I cannot confirm that. I do know that in the latter half of last year patronage figures on ACTION buses fell away. I also know that since February there has been an improvement in those numbers. I know that on the commuter express services there has been an estimated 40 to 50 per cent increase in patronage since February. Over the whole ACTION bus service the figures have increased by something of the order of 3 per cent. What part each of the different elements that Ms McRae is referring to has played in the net movement down and up, I do not know; I do not have the detail of that available to me. I do know that there was a downward trend. That downward trend appears now to be reversing. I understand that there has been, in general terms, an increase in the number of concessional users. As for why there are more concessional users using the service than there were, say, a year ago, I do not know what the contributing factors are.

MS McRAE: Perhaps you can add to the information you will get for me, Mr Minister. Can you inform the Assembly how many services you plan to cut before the next election in order to inflate declining passenger numbers - numbers declining as a direct result of your Government's appalling handling of the public transport system?

MR KAINE: The answer, Mr Speaker, is none. We will be reviewing our timetabling in accordance with the recommendations of the Graham report. As I said earlier in answer to Mr Wood's question, the new network will not even be in place until about the middle of next year. In the meantime we are not going to be arbitrarily cutting services, or arbitrarily adding them either. Any decision to change the networking will be done on the basis of consumer numbers, consumer requirements, and a proper analysis of the data. We are not planning to arbitrarily cut anything.

MS REILLY: My question is to Mr Kaine in his capacity as Minister for Urban Services. Minister, I refer to your press release yesterday in relation to the introduction of Deane's buses into the ACT. You claimed, "What on earth is wrong, for instance, with elderly people catching a bus which passes close to their home?". Minister, why were you not more supportive of elderly residents when your Government cancelled the buses to the Causeway? Why were you not more supportive of elderly residents when your Government implemented policies that meant that some elderly residents in Weston were no longer able to access public transport? Why were you not more supportive of elderly residents in Belconnen who had to fight tooth and nail to ensure that a bus passed by the aged persons units where they lived? Minister, given your Government's record, why should the Canberra public believe you when you claim that providing better transport services for the elderly is a priority?

MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, unlike Ms Reilly, I think I can say that I have an excellent working arrangement with the senior citizens in this city. Unlike Ms Reilly, I actually go and talk to them occasionally. I do not just pick up what I read in the newspapers and assume that that represents what the ageing citizens of Canberra believe. I actually go and talk to them. I happen to be a member of the ACT Council on the Ageing, for example.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .