Page 1061 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 30 March 2011
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MS BRESNAN: Minister, are your current targets for modal shift in transport specifically tailored to the 40 per cent emissions reduction target? If not, on what basis have modal shift targets been developed?
MR STANHOPE: I think the previous answer, having taken the question on notice, will have to apply to this as it is directly related to the question. In relation to the targets more generally of course, the government has in place a whole range of strategies, most particularly in relation to fuel efficiency within our fleet, to deal with the need for this community to attain the challenging targets which we have established, acknowledging of course that no community or jurisdiction will be able to achieve the overall reductions in greenhouse gas emissions without national leadership.
I am very pleased with the national leadership which the Prime Minister and the current federal government are showing. I am quite distressed at the tactics adopted by the Liberal Party in relation to the urgency and immediacy of climate change and the challenge it presents.
Ms Bresnan, I will take the question on notice. I think we do all need to acknowledge that until the Liberal Party actually manages to claw its way into the current century and accept evidence based on science in relation to climate change then we really are going to have a major challenge, as a nation, in meeting this most significant challenge. The Liberal Party, a party of deniers, refuses to accept science in relation to climate change, refuses to grapple with the most urgent issue facing the nation and the world.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Hunter, a supplementary question?
MS HUNTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Minister, given the need for modal shift and the expected growth of Canberra’s population to over 400,000 by 2018, how are you ensuring that people in the new suburbs of Canberra can access public transport?
MR STANHOPE: Mr Speaker, the government are seeking to ensure equitable access to public transport by all Canberrans through unprecedented and historic levels of investment in public transport. We have seen over the last few years the highest ever level of investment in our network and in infrastructure designed to enhance the network. We see it across the board in relation to essentially an all-of-system investment in infrastructure, most particularly dedicated lanes, most particularly the most significant investments, new arrangements and rules in relation to cyclepaths and footpaths, so the mandating in relation to all new roads of the construction of a cyclepath as part of a particular project.
There is currently an unprecedented level of investment in public transport in the ACT both in an operational and a capital sense. Through that, we seek to ensure that there is equitable access to public transport across the territory, acknowledging that there is still much to be done in relation to achieving our sustainable transport targets and achieving the modal shift that we know we must achieve.
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