Page 154 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2006
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through public transport you have to get patronage. You have to get lots of people out of their cars, which are little personal greenhouse gas burners, and put them into bigger vehicles which, generally speaking, burn less greenhouse gas per person travelling on them.
Mr Seselja: If it is full.
MRS DUNNE: That is, if there are people on the buses. At the moment, with the sorts of patronage that we see on some of these buses, we have really big personal greenhouse gas burners, because we have great big buses with only a few patrons on them. In terms of tonnes of CO2 per passenger per year, we are not seeing an improvement from this government, which has abandoned all pretence of being concerned about greenhouse gases.
Mr Corbell: There were 23,000 boardings yesterday.
MRS DUNNE: There were 23,000 adult boardings, yes, but you have admitted over and over again that the overall boardings are down. The overall boardings are down.
Mr Seselja: Total numbers are down. That is what the annual report showed: more money and fewer people.
MRS DUNNE: More greenhouse gases are being expended, but there are no more people on the buses.
Mr Corbell: A record level of boardings, the highest ever level of boardings.
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Mr Corbell, you have been a serial offender this afternoon. Both sides are turning the debate into a tennis match but, Mr Corbell, you are leading the pack.
MRS DUNNE: In summary, Mr Deputy Speaker, we have been challenged here to say what we would do better than Mr Corbell. First of all, we would get our bank accounts in order so that when we make commitments they are the right commitments, they are the best commitments for the future of the territory, and they can be funded. The thing to be concerned about is that if this government commits to sustainable transport, the proposal will not be junked.
MR MULCAHY (Molonglo) (4.32): I would add a few words in relation to Mr Seselja’s motion on this matter. The enthusiasm with which Mr Corbell continues to defend this undertaking has fascinated me, despite the pronouncements of his shortly-to-depart colleague Mr Quinlan. It seems to me that who has lost this round is an interesting exercise. Obviously Mr Quinlan came off second best. But he did succeed in the process of putting the brakes on Mr Corbell’s ambitions to proceed with this busway. Certainly from the tenor of comment today, Mr Corbell shows no relenting in his determination to spend this money.
What is at stake here, I suggest to you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, is, as much as anything, pride. He went and stuck his neck out on something, which, from the best reports we can glean, does not have the support of cabinet. Given the parlous state of the
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