Page 5838 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 7 December 2010
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Whilst of course we would like to be able to say we will service every route as early as we can, we are in the process of purchasing 100 new buses. But each bus comes at a cost of just over half a million dollars. So it is a very significant investment. It is an investment we will continue to make. We are investing historic amounts in public transport, including of course in the fleet, and we will continue to do that.
But any decision that we take and any instance I give you today must be an answer given in the context of the very significant investment which will need to be made and which we are prepared to make. But we will make it over a number of years to ensure that our entire fleet is wheelchair accessible. So we cannot respond necessarily to every request if the requests exceed the number of wheelchair accessible buses we currently have.
MS LE COUTEUR: A supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Le Couteur.
MS LE COUTEUR: Minister, does ACTION keep data on the number of patrons who are in wheelchairs and use express services, and is the patronage of routes with wheelchair access in one direction only lower than on those routes that have a return service?
MR STANHOPE: I do not know the answer to that, but I am more than happy to get that information.
Alexander Maconochie Centre—capacity
MR COE: My question is to the minister for corrections and relates to the capacity of the new jail. In the Chief Minister’s media release on 25 March 2007, entitled “ACT’s first prison—60 per cent complete”, Mr Stanhope said:
On commissioning the prison has capacity for 190 sentenced prisoners, 110 remandees and will employ approximately 170 staff.
Minister, does the jail have the capacity to hold 190 sentenced prisoners and 110 remandees, as asserted by the Chief Minister?
MR CORBELL: Mr Speaker, I refer the member to my previous answers.
MR SPEAKER: Supplementary, Mr Coe?
MR COE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. In the Chief Minister’s media release of 11 September 2008 titled “New Alexander Maconochie Centre officially opened”, Mr Stanhope said:
The $131 million purpose-built AMC will accommodate male, female, remand and sentenced prisoners from low to high security classifications, and can house up to 300 inmates.
Minister, will the AMC house up to 300 inmates or only up to about 245 inmates?
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