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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 7 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 2150 ..

MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

Mr Speaker, the amendment I have moved talks about having the committee look into the provision of transport, using the same buses for students attending special schools and for the rehabilitation program. I put that forward merely because I do not think that the review of the provision of school bus transport, recently undertaken by the Standing Committee on Urban Services, considered that issue. I wanted them to actually consider that issue, Mr Speaker, so as to provide a complete report to this Assembly on the provision of transport for kids - remembering, of course, that the disabled kids attending special schools, such as the Woden Special School, Cranleigh and Malkara, have every right to good-quality education and should not be barred from that because there is not enough transport to get them there and get them home.

I also want the committee to inquire into the provision of transport generally for patients attending rehabilitation programs within our Canberra Hospital rehabilitation service. Recently we heard that the bus service will be removed and that rehabilitation patients who are disabled can catch the public transport system or be provided with cabs for the purpose. In my view, Mr Speaker, this will merely exacerbate the situation that Mr Rugendyke mentioned this morning. It will make it almost impossible for people who are not attending rehabilitation programs to get about at specific times of the day. I think it is quite appropriate that the committee look into that as well as into the appropriateness of the transport.

One of the big concerns for me, if we put patients in cabs, is that there is no assistance for them within the cab other than from the driver. As Mr Rugendyke quite rightly pointed out, Mr Speaker, those people are not trained for it. On the buses that provide these services sit attendants who are trained for it and who usually have years of experience to cope with all sorts of emergencies which can occur within the vehicle.

I am also concerned, Mr Speaker, that these very same buses take elderly people around to attend day care programs within the Belconnen Health Centre and the Tuggeranong Health Centre, which I do know about. I am sure that there are other programs. These are the very same buses, and I am concerned that nobody has discussed their particular transport needs. These are the people who, it was identified a fair while ago, would vegetate in their own homes but for that day care program that we established. I pay tribute to the Minister for Health for setting the agenda. It actually does address these sorts of needs.

Of course, when we do address these sorts of things, often something falls between the cracks, something which is not big enough for us to remember or to know about. I have no criticism of the people in the bureaucracy who are assisting in this process. I merely point out that this may very well be one of those things that are dropping between the cracks, and we need to have it looked at. That is the reason for moving this amendment. I would like to underscore at this point of time that I have no criticism at all to make about the people involved in these processes. I merely point out to them that, from my own experience and from information given to me, we might be missing something that we ought to look at.

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