Page 1192 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2016
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criticised the idea of interchanging. Mr Coe has done it time and time again. “Passengers will not do it,” they say. If the Liberals were to implement their bus plan, interchanging will be central. I am glad they have changed their mind, because interchanging is central to a mature and good network, and it will be part of the network being developed by the Greens and the government as people change to light rail.
This inconsistency on interchanging again raises the issue of trust. Is the Liberals’ bus plan something that they will really do? It is a dead giveaway that the Liberals’ bus plan has no cost, no implementation plan, and no time line. I would assert that this is because they are hoping to impress the public, with no real intent of seeing the plan realised.
I could get a map of Canberra and draw bus routes on it. I would put the routes everywhere and they would be frequent everywhere and look amazing. Why not just throw brand new buses in there as well? New depots? New bus stops? And don’t forget the heated seats. And of course, there is the colour paint job on them as well. I would take the plan out and show the public. Of course they would like it. That is actually really easy to do.
But then there is the reality of actual implementation. How will you achieve this plan? By when will you do it and how much will it cost? When will all of these new bus services actually be operating? There is no time line at the moment. Will it be 2020? Will it be 2030? Or is implementation so far on the horizon that the real plan is to never actually deliver them at all?
Members will know that I and the Greens have been frequently frustrated by rhetoric that does not turn into reality. The government is also a culprit in this. It has been the case before with the government’s transport plans, and my colleagues and I have been frequent critics of this. It frustrates me and the Greens that the transport for Canberra plan was announced by the government but they did not back it up with the investments and actions that were needed. I do not want to see the same coming forward from the Liberal Party. Now that the question of cost—
Mr Coe interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, Mr Coe!
MR RATTENBURY: Let us go to the question of cost. You will get your chance, Mr Coe. Why don’t you save it up and, instead of interjecting all the time, actually make some intelligent comments when you stand up to speak? Let us wait for that.
Now to the question of cost. The Liberal Party’s plan has no cost attached to it. There are no costings for running services, no costings for paying drivers, no costings for maintenance, no costings for running the new real-time service. There are no costings in capital costs for new buses or heated seats, and no costings for the new stops, the new depots or the new walk-in customer service centres. There are no costings. If I am wrong about that, let us see them. Let us have them put on the table and subjected to real scrutiny. The government have done it. We have released the full business case
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