Page 1825 - Week 05 - Thursday, 10 May 2018
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“(4A) if the Assembly is not sitting when the report is completed, the Speaker, or, in the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, is authorised to give directions for its printing, publication and circulation;”.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Road Transport Reform (Light Rail) Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
Debate resumed from 22 March 2018, on motion by Mr Rattenbury:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MISS C BURCH (Kurrajong) (4.28): As members know, the Canberra Liberals opposed the introduction of light rail at the last election. Now that light rail is coming, we intend to ensure that it is run well, that it is well integrated into Canberra’s transport mix and that it operates as smoothly as possible. For that reason, the Canberra Liberals will be supporting this bill today.
This bill amends the road transport legislation to establish the regulatory framework for the operation of light rail as a public passenger service. It also brings territory legislation into line with the rail safety national law to incorporate national amendment regulations and mandates that light rail operators must be accredited under the rail safety national law.
The Canberra Liberals do have concerns about the fact that this bill extends the period for national regulations under the Rail Safety National Law to be presented to the Assembly for consideration from six sitting days to 20 sitting days. I understand that the government would like to avoid a repeat of recent situations where regulations have not been tabled in time. We remain concerned, however, that a delay of 20 sitting days means that national regulations may have the force of law in the ACT for up to six months without the Assembly’s consideration.
I note the minister’s response to the justice and community safety committee’s concerns about this. I understand that the national regulations have gone through significant consultation and that all ministers agree to them prior to notification, and that this somewhat reduces the risks that a long period without the Assembly’s scrutiny might entail.
The bill also establishes the requirements for ticketing and ticket inspection. In other jurisdictions in Australia, and internationally, there have been many difficulties when implementing integrated ticketing across multiple modes of transport. We hope that the government has learnt from the experience of other jurisdictions. We hope that ticketing will provide an easy and convenient travelling experience for everyone who is using both light rail and buses and that the customer experience will be as seamless as possible.
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