Page 1693 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 9 May 2018
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There is a petition on the subject of Sunday buses on the Assembly’s website. I urge all of you who are supporting the thrust of this motion to tell your friends and family about the petition. Please sign it so that when it is finally presented it can be a large petition.
MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (3.38): It is an excellent suggestion from Ms Le Couteur regarding the information about bus services and Uber services. It is something that unfortunately we do not have a lot of information on, unlike the information that we are seeking about the bus services. People write to us as members in this place all the time about bus services and the type of information they would like to see. Weekends and weeknights are the subject of the most common complaints we hear. For example, in my electorate, someone I know who lives in Bonython writes to me frequently about the difficulties he faces in getting a bus home from Raiders matches at the stadium at Bruce. It takes him a reasonably short time to get to the match but a very long time to get home. In another instance one of my constituents talks about a bus that goes straight past his suburb. If it was able to go into his suburb, he would be able to get to where he works much more quickly.
We often talk in this place about evidence-based policy—having the best possible evidence available to us to enable us to make decisions, and information on things like the take-up of Uber is an example of that. Having said that, I move the amendment circulated in my name:
Insert new paragraph (3)(a):
“(a) information on take-up of Uber in Canberra;”.
I am in agreement—and I always find it difficult when I come to this point—with Ms Le Couteur’s suggestion that we seek information about the take-up of Uber. My amendment seeks to get that information included in the amendment circulated by Ms Fitzharris, and for the government to provide whatever information it can. I understand it may be somewhat of a challenge, but this is the type of information about Uber that would feed in to the decisions she makes as the minister for transport about bus services. The government must have some form of information about Uber services and their take-up in Canberra, and I urge members here to support my amendment.
MR MILLIGAN (Yerrabi) (3.42): I thank Miss Candice Burch for bringing this important motion to the Assembly. It is a great start towards securing better public transport for Canberra. As a member for Yerrabi I know constituents in my electorate are crying out for more public transport options in our suburbs. Already this year we have seen the introduction of a new bus timetable that has, in effect, punished the people of Gungahlin. The approach was to train people to be light rail ready, and in doing so they have actually made the daily commute for many of my constituents longer and more disconnected. I am here to call out that false promise that light rail will provide a one-stop solution for all Canberrans, despite the grand promises made by this government.
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