Page 2531 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
It is unacceptable that this level of inefficiency in Canberra’s only mass public transport system is getting worse. Cash fares will go up by over 26 per cent and faresaver 10s by just over 11 per cent. Full faresaver 10 tickets will also go up by about 10 per cent.
However, hidden in this amount was a change of rules for tertiary students who will now have to pay concession fares instead of student fares. This figure was hidden on the ACTION website and not included in the budget papers. I commend my senior adviser for picking this up. Tertiary students using faresaver 10s, who now pay $8.20 and will do so for the rest of this financial year, will have to pay $12.25 from 1 July. That is an increase of 49 per cent from $8.20 to $12.25. So tertiary students are, in effect, disproportionately bearing the burden of Stanhope’s tax increase on bus commuters.
Whether it is a fee, a fare, a charge or a ticket, when you get slugged an additional amount for a service that is actually not commensurate with the actual price, then the average punter calls it a tax. This is a 50 per cent tax on students. The 49 per cent is well above inflation for the period since bus fares last went up. From the September 2006 quarter to the March 2009 quarter, inflation was 6.7 per cent, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.
This is typical Stanhope-Gallagher government mismanagement to hide the bad news behind a headline that hid the true impact on the tertiary sector. The headline was, of course, 11 per cent, the real impact is 49 per cent. The Labor Party have always claimed to be a friend of the battling student, but in this budget they have shown their true colours and have slugged students more than anyone else when it comes to transport.
When asked about this in estimates, Andrew Barr, the Minister for Children and Young People, dropped the ball on Canberra’s young people. All he had to say was:
I would say that bus fares have not gone up for a period of time … I did not look into the detail of each individual fare category… it is not unreasonable for fares to increase … look at any fare increase in the context of history.
By each of those measures, 49 per cent is not reasonable. Tertiary students, like commuters over the past couple of years, have experienced service cut backs, constant delays and bus breakdowns.
I understand the Greens will be moving an amendment to this motion. However, I believe their amendment is extremely weak. Their amendment only calls for a review. Well, guess what? The government has already reviewed it and the government has said that they will increase bus fares. It is absolutely absurd for anyone in this place actually to think that calling on a government that increases fares to review that decision will come up with anything other than the fares that are on the table from 1 July.
There is no way in the world that asking the government to review their own decision is going to return a decision other than what has been declared. It will be a 49 per cent
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .