Page 3573 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
services. We know they are very stretched at that point, in getting people to work and to school. But why not promote leaving the car at home and getting on the bus, and make it attractive for people to do that? A lot of people do not know that it is actually quite enjoyable to sit on the bus. You can read your paper and see a bit of life. Some people will mingle with people that they do not ordinarily mingle with. I think that is a really good thing.
Ms MacDonald: They get to see you on the bus.
DR FOSKEY: Well, every now and again they do. I want to applaud the government for integrating the taxis. I have asked for a briefing, but I have yet to see how the taxis will work in with the bus systems. I think that is a really important thing. We do need that variety, especially on weekends at night, which is the weak point in our public transport system. I would like to see taxi services integrated; I would like to see mini-buses. I would also like to see more use of texting. People should be able to go to a bus stop and find out when their next bus is coming. They will know whether it is worth waiting there or whether they should go home because it will take a whole hour.
I have heard that the Darwin bus service is flexible in a similar way. I am not planning to travel to Darwin to see that, but I would like to see it. Darwin is a city of a similar size and therefore might have some lessons for us.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo) (4.08): Dr Foskey asked us to learn lessons from Darwin. I believe Darwin has the lowest percentage in the country of public transport users going to work. So perhaps that is not working quite so well and maybe the lessons of Darwin are not as good as Dr Foskey makes out.
It is notable that Ms MacDonald has brought forward this issue of the importance of public transport, underpinned by supportive and integrated infrastructure. Mr Hargreaves had a lot to say about infrastructure, but Ms MacDonald, despite still having six or seven minutes to go when she sat down, did not mention the word “busway” even once. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think there was any mention in Ms MacDonald’s speech of the busway.
It is interesting that she had 15 minutes to talk about sustainable public transport infrastructure, yet the main proposal that has been put forward in terms of infrastructure by this government was completely neglected by Ms MacDonald. I do not know whether that is because of the faction that she sits in—whether the right faction in the Labor Party does not support the busway and the left does. But I think it might be because it is an embarrassment to members of this government.
Of course, we cannot have a discussion about public transport infrastructure without talking about the busway. Let us look at a bit of the confusion that has existed over the busway on the part of the government. Back in December 2004, Mr Corbell had this to say:
The Government has committed $6m for implementation of the Sustainable Transport Plan over the next two years, including forward design of the busway, with an expectation that construction might start towards the end of 2006.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .