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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Tuesday, 24 August 2004) . . Page.. 4097 ..

Mrs Cross: You can’t rule it out though, Bill. You can’t say it’s not going to work and not consider it.

Mrs Dunne: Yes, he has. He’s just ruled it out. Thank you, Bill. Thank you.

MR WOOD: No, I am not ruling it out. The data say that when the population grows and it is a little more intensively settled in some areas, a light rail system will come. Go into all the documents over very many years.

Mrs Cross: But you can’t plan it in 20 years time. You’ve got to think about it.

MR WOOD: It can be brought forward in due course, and it will be. But we are dealing with the here and now, and Ms Tucker wants a light rail system right now and that is the answer. So many people think that is the answer. It is the answer to the Gungahlin Drive extension, and it is the answer to all sorts of things. Well, it simply ain’t the answer. In due course, let me say, in due course. We will get down to the detail stage now and see how that goes, although the result appears to be inevitable. The result is not the best result, really, for anybody.

Mrs Cross: On a point of order, Mr Speaker, under standing order 47, I want to clarify something.

Leave granted.

MRS CROSS (6.46): Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your patience and understanding. Mr Wood picked up on something in my speech about taxi drivers. Many taxi owners are also taxi drivers. I just wanted to clarify that. Also, Mr Wood said that we are dealing with the now. For the purpose of accuracy, as legislators we have to deal with the now and the future.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Detail stage

Clause 1.

MRS DUNNE (6.47): I move amendment No 1 circulated in my name on the yellow paper [see schedule 4 at page 4104].

This is a simple amendment that modifies the name of the bill—or the act, as it will become—to make it clear that this is really about the hire car system. Members of this place are essentially opposing all those provisions that relate to the taxi industry, and we want to make it perfectly clear that this is now a bill about hire cars.

MR WOOD (Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Urban Services, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, and Minister for Arts and Heritage) (6.48): It does not really change anything, Mr Speaker. What difference?

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