Page 5187 - Week 12 - Thursday, 27 October 2011
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While these are good intentions and they are good initiatives, some of these strategies would have been expected to have been finalised as part of the transport plan. The Greens are concerned that a number of important initiatives have been deferred to future strategies, and the actual implementation of these initiatives is either many years away or will be deferred in a cycle of other strategies that come about, changing priorities and changing governments.
The Greens are strong supporters of building a first-class public transport system for Canberra. Other cities in Australia are investing in public transport and have seen an increase in public transport patronage through this investment. Canberra deserves a first-class, efficient and frequent public transport system, something other Australian cities have. We often hear that Canberra is different to other cities but in terms of distances and other such factors, Canberra is no different to other cities, including cities such as Brisbane, that have very much shifted their transport plan in recent years through making that decision to invest in public transport.
We should be giving people the option, and that is the thing—the choice. It is about giving people the choice to use public transport if they do want to do that. We know a lot of people rely on it. But we know a lot of people want to use public transport, and we should be putting in place an investment so that they can make that choice.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (3.42): Thank you to Dr Bourke for bringing this matter here today. Public transport funding is an issue the Greens have raised repeatedly over the three years of the Assembly so far, and I am very happy that we have this chance for further discussion.
Our view is that public transport needs to be central to the transport system of Canberra. It is central to the future of our city, and it needs to be the key mode of travel as we move into a future of climate change and constrained access to oil.
We know what happens when cities are planned predominantly for car transport. We just need to look across the Pacific to American cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix and Detroit, where congestion, pollution, urban sprawl and social inequities are causing myriad problems. Is that really what we want Canberra’s future to be? A city whose growing population is forced to be dependent on cars for all of their travel needs? A city that is unsustainable and expensive?
Public transport is also a critical factor in the development of Canberra communities. If we are to have a socially inclusive society, we need to provide access to quality public transport. Many communities are at risk of social isolation, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, migrants and refugees, people with disabilities, the unemployed, underemployed, older people and younger people. All of these people are most likely to need public transport as quite often there are fewer options available to these people. The more car dependent we become, the more risk there is of these communities suffering social exclusion. Twenty per cent of people who rely on ACTION buses, for example, are employed on a casual basis. As we have heard here this afternoon, many people with mobility-related disabilities rely on this public transport.
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