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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 5 Hansard (8 May) . . Page.. 1729 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

Another initiative of note is the introduction of a lift fee for wheelchair accessible taxis. Mr Speaker, as you would know, the issue of wheelchair accessible taxis is one close to my heart. I remember the issue of a lift fee being discussed when I was the minister. My view was then-and is now-that, if it will improve the performance of the WAT, then it was probably worth doing. However, the government's habit of throwing money at a problem in the hope that it will go away has not worked to date. We will be watching the performance of the WATs very closely indeed.

In planning and transport, with this budget the Gungahlin Drive extension is, in the government's own words, shaping up as a road to nowhere. The government is simply not being serious about building the road, especially now they cannot go down their preferred western alignment.

The last Liberal government set aside $32 million for the road's construction on the eastern alignment, and work was scheduled to start last July. However, while Mr Corbell did nothing at all, and no construction work started, he rubbished the previous government's costings. In the Assembly on 25 June last year, he said that they were out of date and would deliver only a road to nowhere.

Surprise, surprise! In this year's capital works program, we find the same amount of $32 million being used. You have to wonder if there will ever be a Gungahlin Drive extension.

Mr Speaker, the opposition welcomes the $420,000 earmarked for the start of the implementation of the Canberra spatial plan. With any luck, it may get finished, as we note that from 1 July the new planning authority and land agency will come into being, although we are yet to be convinced that they have been appropriately resourced.

We note with interest the land release program providing for 2,400 new dwelling blocks, and redevelopment providing a further 1,000 blocks. The new land development agency is projected to return an end-of-year profit of almost $100 million. We will wait and see whether that occurs, but we see in this little movement towards affordable housing.

The government, in its action on this front, is failing those who are seeking to become home owners, as well as those struggling to stay in the market. The sustainable transport strategy implementation is, at face value, a step in the right direction, but we on this side have a suspicion that it may well be just another review.

For all the talk about greater emphasis on public transport, this budget has little in the way of positive incentives for people to make the switch. We tinker at the edges here, revising services there and juggling the fare structure. However, we see nothing yet that will bring about radical change, such as the sort of change which meant that the express bus service in Brisbane, for example, saw a 16 per cent shift in modal use in its first year.

If this is just another review dressed up as a study instead of a big-picture scheme, then we will not have addressed the issue. However, there is cause for hope in the territory signing up to the national travel behaviour change program, but that is a year down the track.

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