Page 3729 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 28 October 2015
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I also point out that we have already secured $60 million in funding from the commonwealth as an outcome of asset recycling for the light rail project. Clearly, the tide is turning and the Canberra Liberals are being left behind when it comes to investing in public transport, particularly light rail, across Australia.
It is clear that there is a future for light rail in Canberra, along with buses, cycling, walking, private vehicles, taxis and ride sharing arrangements. With so many options, it is important to have one agency that will ensure buses and light rail are integrated with one another and with other forms of transport. It will also encourage more innovative approaches to driving, parking and traffic management.
In the years ahead, when light rail starts operating, transport Canberra will ensure efficient integration by delivering a single ticketing, timetabling and fare system across all of Canberra’s public transport options. In the long term this will make Canberra an even more sustainable, modern, prosperous and livable city. I am sure commuters across our city will look forward to this new way of getting around our city in the years to come. I am proud to support this motion and thank Dr Bourke again for moving it today.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Justice, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Transport Reform) (11.59): It seems that, after all that interjecting, Mr Smyth does not in fact want the call.
Government members interjecting—
MR RATTENBURY: I am pleased to support this motion from Dr Bourke today and I thank him for bringing it to the Assembly. I have talked about transport, and particularly public transport and active transport, many times before in the chamber—just as my Greens predecessors have done, and this is because we believe that a long-term vision for transport, focused on active and public transport, is essential to creating the sustainable and livable city for the future. It is an essential way to respond to the challenges we face such as population growth, pollution, energy security, social exclusion, and even the need for continued economic prosperity. If we are going to be ready for these challenges, and resilient to them, a forward-thinking transport plan is a key response.
Some people have a narrow view of transport; that it is only about moving people from place to place. It is about movement, of course, but transport is also a fundamental planning tool and it is at the core of how our city develops and grows. More than how we move around, it is key to our health, social and economic outcomes. As I have said before, if, for example, we just build more and bigger roads and plan only for private car transport, we will end up with a sprawled city, an expensive city, a city with worse health outcomes, a city with increased social isolation and a city with more congestion and more delays. The evidence of this is all around the world and it would be a folly to ignore it.
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