Page 2889 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 14 August 2018
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What is this going to mean for many Canberra families? It will mean they will stop putting their kids on the bus and instead drive them to school. This is discouraging the use of public transport, not promoting it. This will also have a damaging effect on employment and productivity and will mean that many parents will have to disrupt their work days or change their hours just to make sure that their kids get to and from school safely. This, again, will result in fewer Canberrans catching the bus, more cars on our roads, more congestion, and more inconvenience for Canberra families.
The government’s transport plans are not transparent and are not based on genuine consultation. This is not honest government and it is not open government. The government owes it to Canberrans to be transparent about light rail, stage 1 and stage 2, by releasing up-to-date budget figures for stage 1 and a full business case for stage 2 so that Canberrans know the actual cost to them.
The government owes it to Canberrans to release proposed timetables so that they can make an informed judgement on how the new network will impact them—how long it will take them to get to work and how long their children will be waiting at interchanges before and after school.
If the government were serious about increasing patronage across our integrated public transport network it would be making it easier, not more difficult, for Canberrans to catch public transport. If the government were serious about increasing public transport patronage it would enhance commuter services as well as community services, not at the expense of it. It is, of course, the community and suburban aspects of the network that make it a public transport network.
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (5.00): I know the appropriation bill debate can get very bogged down in detail, so I want to take a different approach here. I know the ABC’s ears may have pricked up, but rest assured I am not about to read a children’s book. I do want to paint a picture for you. Imagine it is the year 2020 and you are making your way around my electorate of Yerrabi. Whether you are driving, taking the bus, catching the light rail or cycling, you find it easier than ever to get where you are going.
I want you to think ahead because I know that right now Yerrabi is a hub of activity. It is because the Gungahlin town centre is soon to become one of the first hubs of the ACT’s integrated public transport system, when the light rail comes online later this year. As a resident of east Gungahlin, I know as well as anyone that there has been a lot happening. However, by 2020 the residents of Yerrabi will be enjoying all the benefits of an integrated public transport system.
This government has a long history of delivering an extensive transformation of the road network across Yerrabi, and when you are the second fastest growing region in the country it is impossible to ignore the need for improving the capacity of roads, cyclepaths and the public transport system.
Previous budgets provided funding for the duplication of Gundaroo Drive through to the Barton Highway and signalising the intersection with Mirrabei Drive. This year’s
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