Page 1473 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 14 May 2014
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MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Mr Rattenbury is answering Mrs Jones’s question.
MR RATTENBURY: I am getting there, colleagues. As I said, there are a number of ACTION services that go to the precinct. The actual airport terminal has been a subject of some ongoing discussion with the airport, because it is a source of frustration to me. But my recollection—I will double-check this—is that, to this time, we have not been able to get approval for an ACTION bus to pull up at the terminal. That is right; we have not been able to get approval for an ACTION bus to pull up at the terminal. This is obviously not ideal and it is something that we are looking at both in the ongoing discussions with the airport owners and as part of the network 14 considerations. I will double-check that, but I am quite certain that is the case.
The other thing I would point out to members that the letter writers in this week’s Canberra Times have failed to acknowledge is that there is in fact a private operator who runs a shuttle bus to the airport—a private service. I would be happy to get feedback from members of the opposition outside the chamber; they obviously should not be giving it to me now. But if they want ACTION to take over that service and put the private operator out of business, they should let me know. But it is quite clear that there is a private service that operates to the airport. I gather it is quite well utilised by tourists coming into Canberra.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mrs Jones.
MRS JONES: Minister, why are there no ACTION services to Canberra airport? Whose approval are you awaiting, and what discussions have been had about that approval?
MR RATTENBURY: I refer Mrs Jones to my previous answer, and I will seek further information.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Mr Coe.
MR COE: Minister, if you are concerned about putting a business out of business, will the government be abandoning the parliamentary triangle route because it will put out the tourist service?
MR RATTENBURY: Currently, ACTION provides in the order of 450 services a day to the parliamentary triangle. I think they are quite a different service to the private tourist operator who runs a loop service. I think it is quite different and Mr Coe’s question frankly is preposterous. It is quite different to run a shuttle service back and forth to the airport as opposed to the extensive network of services that ACTION provides in the parliamentary triangle each day.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Coe.
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