Page 2530 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 17 June 2009

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people are able to participate in this review and to raise the issues and matters that are important to them. I look forward to this matter being progressed in a timely manner so that the citizens of the ACT will be able, hopefully in the not too distant future, to enjoy the same democratic rights as other Australian citizens.

Question put:

That the motion, as amended, be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

ACTION bus service—concession fares

MR COE (Ginninderra) (6.43): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) condemns the Government for changing eligibility for student bus fares to force tertiary students to use concession fares from 1 July 2009;

(2) notes the resulting proposed fare increase of 49 per cent on tertiary students who use Faresaver 10 bus tickets; and

(3) calls on the Government to reinstate student fares for tertiary students from 1 July 2009.

The recent territory budget has increased parking fees, parking fines, the number of parking inspectors and bus fares. All commuters have been slugged by increases in this budget. As a result of the budget, ACTION bus fares will go up by a headline average of just over 11 per cent. This is occurring at a time when ACTION bus services are deteriorating. In fact, on-time running performance has been adjusted down to 83 per cent. In effect, one in every five buses is expected to run late.

However, the story does not stop there. In actual fact, the budget papers did not reveal that the timeliness indicator as budgeted was measured in a different way than it was last year. In actual fact, the minister could not explain to us, nor could his officials, under what measure last year’s recording was taken, as opposed to this year’s. So it is very hard to actually make a comparison from last year to this year. The target of 99 per cent being reduced down to 83 per cent only tells the story that things are getting worse, but, as to how bad it is, it does not really say.

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