Page 3430 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 17 August 2011
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reflect the technique, reflect the planning that has accumulated over the years. But to destroy the essence of the city is something that concerns me greatly.
Ms Bresnan said, “The ACT deserves a high quality public transport system.” I do not think anybody disagrees with that. But who pays for it? And who will use it? How will you make it economically sustainable without significantly increasing the subsidy that already goes to the public through ACTION buses?
The Greens had a policy that could be costed from anywhere between $25 million and $50 million to improve the number of bus services, but you have to ask the question: will the people use it? If you lock off the parking, yes, they probably will. They probably will have to. But it comes not just at a reduction in the number of car kilometres travelled per year. It will come at a reduction of involvement in the community. Let us face it: most households in the ACT have dual incomes. You have an arrangement where one spouse will go early, one spouse will go late and you shuffle the kids. We have all done it. I assume most of us here have done it.
My wife leaves early. I take David either to before-school care or to primary school. If Robyn wanted to catch a bus to get to work to start at 8 o’clock from our place, she would have to leave significantly earlier than David—my five-year-old—actually got up in the morning. Is that the sort of society that we want? I do not think it is. Think this through logically. That is what you are talking about. You are talking about getting families to spend more time on the bus and less time with each other. That is the implication.
We think education is important and we think after-school activities are important. Currently, we are very lucky. We have an income into the house and the flexibility of working arrangements so that we can do this. My five-year-old does gymnastics because it helps with growth, fine motor skills and education as well as general fitness. He does swimming once a week because we believe everybody should learn to swim. You all know my father is a bit older in age. You have seen him wandering around the Assembly collecting the stamps. He is 85. Robyn takes David over to see dad once a week.
These are things that we do with ease because we use our cars. For us to do those sorts of activities every week—week in, week out—without a car but on a bus would be nigh on impossible. One afternoon Robyn wants to go to Jerrabomberra, one afternoon Erindale, one afternoon Tuggeranong. We live in Chisholm. It would be nigh on impossible to do. So what do you do? What do you start giving up and how do you give it up? It is easy to say, “We will increase the frequency of the ACTION buses,” but it will never cope with the variety of things that people do in this city.
I think that in a way people use their cars wisely. There will always be the person who will make what we might call selfish trips in cars where you can either walk or maybe get a bus with some ease. But if you want to be involved with Meals on Wheels or some sort of volunteering, you are probably going to a place somewhere and then going to another place to deliver a service. It is much easier in your car, particularly if you are getting on. You can spend all your time travelling to volunteering or you can spend more time volunteering. If you want to be involved at lunchtime or after work
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