Page 2799 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 14 August 2018
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Tuesday, 14 August 2018
MADAM SPEAKER (Ms J Burch) took the chair at 10 am, made a formal recognition that the Assembly was meeting on the lands of the traditional custodians, and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.
Environment and Transport and City Services—Standing Committee
Out-of-order petition and reference—ACTION bus service
MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (10.01): I seek leave to table an out-of-order petition and move a motion, as circulated, to refer the matter to a committee.
Leave granted.
MR COE: I present the following paper:
Petition which does not conform with the standing orders—Retention of bus route 54 between Gungahlin and Belconnen—Mr Coe.
I move:
That this Assembly:
(1) notes the significant response the petition to maintain the current Route 54 bus service between Gungahlin and Belconnen, via Crace; and
(2) refers the petition and the impact of this specific change to the ACTION bus network to the Standing Committee on Environment and Transport and City Services.
I would like to begin by thanking the 529 Crace residents and others that use that bus or are familiar with the cuts to route 54 for signing this petition. These residents, and of course others in Crace, Palmerston and other Gungahlin suburbs, deserve better from their public transport network. Under the government’s proposed changes, the route 54 service will no longer operate between Gungahlin and Belconnen, and people in Crace and other suburbs will be worse off.
I bring to the Assembly’s attention the many people, predominantly from Goodwin retirement village and its surrounds, and the work they did in gathering these signatures, and I acknowledge a couple of them who are in the chamber today. Of course, at Goodwin retirement village the average age of residents is around 70, with many people choosing to rely on public transport instead of driving. So they really do depend on bus services. For many, the quality of the local bus service—that is, the No 54—was one of the key reasons in choosing to reside at Goodwin at Crace.
These senior Canberrans will lose their regular option to travel to the Belconnen town centre from where they live. Instead they will be forced to catch the 20 or 21 through
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