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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 4 Hansard (22 April) . . Page.. 1223 ..
The petition will be presented at the Civic Square entrance to the Legislative Assembly building at 11.30am. Both Mr Corbell and Mr Develin will be available for comment.
MR SMYTH: I think Mr Corbell has been sitting next to Mr Hargreaves for too long. Mr Hargreaves spoke on Tuesday about action on the bus stop at St Clare's and St Edmund's colleges. There is a recommendation in the report on the capital works program that I report to the Assembly before the end of April. Mr Hargreaves said that if I do report:
I will be the first to stand in this place and congratulate the Minister on it. As they say in Aussie rules parlance, Mr Speaker, "I'd like to see that", and I do not think I will.
Mr Speaker, as I have said since the beginning of the year in regard to the bus services to St Clare's and St Edmund's colleges, we will work with both schools to ensure that appropriate action is taken. It is curious because, at about the time that Mr Hargreaves put out a press release saying, "Minister told to deal with safety hazard", I was putting out a release that says, "ACTION's new network at work". I seek leave to have my press release incorporated in Hansard because it does outline what we are going to do at St Edmund's and St Clare's colleges. It says the improvements will include altered bus bay arrangements on McMillan Crescent, bus zones, an additional pedestrian crossing, designated pick-up and set-down areas for general traffic in McMillan Crescent and Wills Street, and another bus service for the busy Weston Creek services.
Leave granted.
The press release read as follows:
Initial figures on bus patronage at St Edmund's and St Clare's colleges this year show more school students are catching ACTION buses with the introduction of the new network, ACT Urban Services Minister Brendan Smyth has announced.
The Urban Services Department commissioned a report on ACT school bus services, by Roger Graham and Associates, to look at issues raised by the community, particularly in relation to St Edmund's and St Clare's colleges.
"The report finds that there is no basis to claims that the new network and increased fares would result in parents abandoning the ACTION services and drive their children to school.
"Figures show that average patronage to the two schools in 1999, compared to 1998, has not decreased. It has actually increased - by 4% on afternoon services (about 1,141 pupils) and marginally on morning services (about 930 pupils).
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