Page 2820 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 29 June 2011
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Shortly after that you said:
… the government does not in any way believe that construction of the Majura parkway will lead to any change in modal shift.
Minister, can you clarify what impact you think the Majura parkway will have on modal shift and explain the possible contradiction between those two statements?
MR CORBELL: I thank Ms Le Couteur for the question. There is no contradiction in the statements and I refer Ms Le Couteur to my previous answer.
MR SPEAKER: Ms Le Couteur, a supplementary?
MS LE COUTEUR: Minister, do you agree with ACTPLA’s Gungahlin town centre transportation study, which says that Gungahlin should be designed to achieve a modal shift away from car use and that this is achieved by not promoting the car above other transport modes? If you do agree, do you accept that the Majura parkway will have some impact on modal shift?
MR CORBELL: The two issues are not related. Ms Le Couteur is drawing a link between those two policy statements which simply does not exist. And, no, I do not agree.
MS BRESNAN: Supplementary.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Bresnan.
MS BRESNAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Minister, given that the government’s own light rail submission says that building light rail to replace road travel is important in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, do you stand by your statement that a new Majura freeway “will not … be a material factor in relation to greenhouse gas emissions in the city”?
MR CORBELL: Again we get these questions from the Greens where you get two statements that are completely divorced and unrelated to each other and they try to connect them to make an argument. There is not an argument. The fact is that the government’s position is that investing in improvements in rapid transit, both in infrastructure and in service delivery, will have an impact on modal shift because you are giving people more choice—you are giving people more options in terms of travel. If you target it and if you are strategic about where you locate it, you are going to get better outcomes in terms of modal shift.
The government has said consistently and clearly, and this is backed up by the Infrastructure Australia assessment, that the upgrade of the Majura parkway is fundamentally about providing enhanced freight capacity, not about passenger vehicles.
MS HUNTER: A supplementary.
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