Page 145 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2006
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workplace, Quamby manages staff performance in accordance with appropriate public sector management practice when appropriate.
Emergency Services Authority—internal audit
MR SESELJA: On 15 December 2005, I asked the Chief Minister a question without notice in relation to requirements for ACT government agencies to have internal audit committees and internal audit units. The minister took the question on notice. I believe that the answer to it was due on 14 January. I seek an explanation under standing order 118A.
MR CORBELL: On behalf of the Chief Minister, I will seek an explanation for Mr Seselja and provide an answer as soon as possible.
Belconnen to Civic busway
Debate resumed.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Minister for Health and Minister for Planning) (3.56): Mr Speaker, the government will not be supporting this motion. The reason for that is that this motion highlights the lack of a coherent, dedicated and committed policy agenda from those opposite when it comes to improving public transport in Canberra. The Liberal Party have been in opposition for over four years and, during that time, what proposals, initiatives or concepts have they put forward to improve public transport in Canberra? The answer to that in terms of commitments to spend money, to improve public transport and to put in place new initiatives is a big, fat zero—a big, fat zero. I challenged the Liberal Party during the term of the last Assembly to come forward with some policy proposals when it comes to public transport in Canberra, but they failed then and they are still failing the community.
I welcome this debate today because it allows me to clear up some quite deliberate misconceptions that the opposition is putting about as to the work that the government is undertaking in relation to planning for future public transport in Canberra. We had a debate this morning about the importance of setting targets to improve public transport provision in Canberra and to shift the number of journeys that are undertaken by private motor vehicle into other modes—into public transport, into walking and into cycling. This government is the first and only government that has put in place measures to set targets to ensure that we try to achieve that. If, as a city, we do not achieve that, we will be continuing to increase our greenhouse gas emissions, we will be continuing to make a disproportionate impact per head of population given the very high rates of vehicle usage that occur in our city to date, and we will not be undertaking the commitment we should be to addressing the very significant and dramatic issues and consequences of climate change.
Mr Speaker, this busway project fits into the government’s sustainable transport plan. I draw members’ attention to the findings of the sustainable transport plan, which concluded and recommended that a dedicated corridor system, such as a bus or transit way, with public transport services operating on a fully or partly dedicated right of way was justified for Canberra. That is what the busway is; it is a dedicated right of way. The government endorsed the findings of the sustainable transport plan. We endorsed the
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