Page 2787 - Week 09 - Thursday, 27 September 2007
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a forum such as this, supercharged as it is, that there may in fact be some policy statement on the part of those opposite. So I went looking to make myself aware of whether or not there were alternative proposals.
I went to the opposition’s transport policy, and I could only find the word “bus” written once in it anyway, and that was when they were going to do this policy. And this is a great policy—I want to know more about it. It includes integrating the bus, taxi and wheelchair-accessible taxi services to provide the basis for a demand-responsive, after-hours transport system. That sounds like a wonderful idea, but I have not got any information on it. I also have not got a shadow transport minister—there he is. Perhaps he might like to come and tell us how he is going to do this.
So, Mr Speaker, again I searched for something about bus shelters. I found on the web the opposition’s policy statement of 2004, which depicts two pictures. I thought, “I haven’t seen those before.” One of them is a picture of an ACTION bus. It turns out that that ACTION bus was actually bought by the Stanhope government. Well, that is interesting. So they are picking up the ACTION bus policy.
The other thing which was rather interesting, Mr Speaker, was the depiction of an eight-door multi-tonne Hummer sitting on their website. I do not know about you, Mr Speaker, but I do not think that the gas-guzzling Hummers are a really good idea for this environmentally friendly city. I would not be putting it on the front of my documents.
Onward with my search for bus shelters, Mr Speaker, onward. I looked up the urban public transport part of their policy, to find nothing in it about any public bus service—nothing, not a sausage. Mr Speaker, all it says is that they will commission a detailed investigation of the financial viability of a light rail network. Good one. Also, they will provide cheaper licences for environmentally friendly taxis. That was the sum total of the urban public transport policy.
So I went looking further—looking further. I got to the key actions, hoping to find that they were going to double the number of bus shelters in the ACT. What did I find? No mention of bus shelters; no mention of buses. In fact there was not much in there at all. But they are going to enhance road safety and reward good drivers. Did you hear that, Mr Gentlemen? They are going to reward good drivers.
Mr Speaker, by this stage, I had almost given up. I could not find a bus shelter. But I did find this little pearl, which is in the Canberra Liberals’ platform of July 2004.
MR SPEAKER: What has the Liberals’ policy got to do with the question?
MR HARGREAVES: I was trying to find the alternative proposal for a bus shelter, Mr Speaker, and I am advising the Assembly of the fruits of that search. I found that they are going to involve the private sector companies in transport service provision. That sounds like competition for the ACTION bus service to me. Now, perhaps they would like to explain to us and to the Transport Workers Union and to the bus drivers and to the travelling public just how they are going to do it. But get this one. Where is Mr Seselja? He sits over there. I found one here he might like to know about. They are going to reserve transport corridors for future development. Did you hear that?
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