Page 3563 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 20 November 2007
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Government Procurement Act, pursuant to section 39—Government Procurement (Relevant Standing Committee) Nomination 2007—Notifiable Instrument NI2007-367, dated 13 November 2007.
Education, Training and Young People—Standing Committee—Report 5—Inquiry into the Eligible Voting Age—Speaker’s response, dated November 2007.
Mr Corbell presented the following paper:
Administration of Justice—ACT Criminal Justice—Statistical Profile—September 2007 quarter.
Public transport—infrastructure
Discussion of matter of public importance
MR SPEAKER: I have received letters from Mrs Burke, Mrs Dunne, Dr Foskey, Mr Gentleman, Ms MacDonald, Mr Barr, Mr Pratt, Mr Seselja, Mr Smyth and Mr Stefaniak proposing that matters of public importance be submitted to the Assembly. In accordance with standing order 79, I have determined that the matter proposed by Ms MacDonald be submitted to the Assembly, namely:
Importance of public transport underpinned by supportive and integrated infrastructure.
MS MacDONALD (Brindabella) (3.24): The necessity of providing commuters with an efficient and effective public transport system has been recognised throughout the world. The Stanhope government has recognised this need and is committed to creating a sustainable public transport system now and into the future.
The ACT jurisdiction is unique. It is unique geographically, topographically and in terms of our urban spread. Canberra is a low-density, dispersed city with population of 307,000 that covers a large radius. The ACT is more car dependent than most other Australian jurisdictions. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra has the highest average kilometres travelled per vehicle per annum compared with other states and territories. There is no jurisdiction around the world that faces this combination of issues. But it is the government’s aim to ensure that public transport is progressively made fully accessible and attractive to all who wish to use the service. By increasing patronage and improving the efficiency of the public transport system, the ACT will see increased social, environmental and economic benefits.
The Stanhope Labor government’s key transport priorities are: better public transport, which includes improving ACTION services, building better public transport infrastructure, improving public transport safety and improving taxi and car hire services; a safe and efficient road network, which includes managing parking demand, enhancing the capacity of the road network through key capital works and improving the management of heavy vehicle access to the network; cleaner, safer and healthier personal transport, which includes encouraging greener and healthier personal transport and educating for safer road use and, lastly, planning for the future, which includes reviewing and developing transport plans integrated with land use planning and creating future transport opportunities over the longer term.
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