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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 1 Hansard (13 December) . . Page.. 256 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

Government initiatives will improve transport links to surrounding centres and major cities and better integrate services within the city itself. This will improve Canberrans' quality of life, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the costs of doing business in Canberra.

The government is committed to ensuring that ACTION remains a viable, accessible public transport provider. Within the first six months of the government the following initiatives will be introduced. ACTION will commence as an authority on 1 January next year. This will place ACTION on a more commercial footing and increase the transparency of its cost service provisions, including community service obligations.

Bus operator accreditation is currently being introduced to ensure that all bus services operating in the territory meet reasonable standards of safety and service. The government will ensure that route services are provided when and where they are needed at a cost which is affordable.

The bus fare system will be simplified and the cost to people in outer areas reduced. The government will scrap the zone fare system and will introduce a single flat fare for all users in early 2002.

As promised, the school student transport scheme will be abolished at the end of this school year. A new means tested program focusing on providing free bus travel to students from low-income families will be introduced at the beginning of the new school year. In addition, the single flat fare will continue. This fare is set at the level of the current single-zone student fare. School bus drivers engaged under the SSTS, the school student transport scheme, will be retained until the end of their contracts.

Early in 2002 the government will also expand the off-peak pensioner concession fare scheme to peak times-a significant improvement for pensioners catching a bus.

A bus replacement scheme will be considered in the 2002-03 budget. The government is committed to increasing the number of accessible bus routes throughout Canberra, particularly intertown services, and the government will make the purchase of accessible and environmentally friendly buses a priority. This will include the purchase of compressed natural gas buses. The government will also commence a feasibility study into the introduction of CNG outlets throughout the ACT to facilitate the use of CNG fuels by business and the general community.

Proposals such as light rail will be investigated in the new year. There will also be investigations into appropriate routes for bus-only lanes and busways heading to and from Civic.

Mr Speaker, I have outlined planning and transport issues of the highest and immediate priority to the government. Successful resolution of these issues will enable us to work through many other challenges.

Mr Speaker, I will now briefly turn to the area of industrial relations. Wage justice and employment equity for all Canberrans is the cornerstone of the government's approach to industrial relations. Labor is determined that all workers in the ACT will be treated fairly and equitably in the workplace. The government will seek a system of industrial

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