Page 926 - Week 03 - Thursday, 21 March 2019
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While I support the government’s push to put more resources into the rapid routes—I do not have a problem with that—we need to make sure that we still have coverage of Canberra.
MISS C BURCH (Kurrajong) (10.27): Over 1,100 Canberrans, mostly ANU students who will be negatively affected by the removal of the No 3 bus route, have signed a petition calling for this route to be reinstated. The current No 3 services students on campus as well as those who commute, connecting them with work, study, home and the city. There are over 1,100 signatories to this petition who share our concerns over the removal of this route and the impact it will have on student wellbeing.
It is ironic that this government continues to claim to be the party of inclusion and the party of diversity and yet they are cutting a vital and necessary service that disproportionately affects minorities and vulnerable members of our community, especially young female students and international students.
Last year I received from a 19-year-old student who lived at ANU but who works late nights in hospitality, like so many of our students do, an email regarding the government’s decision to cut the No 3 route. In this email she went on to explain how route No 3 drops her outside her college on campus; so she feels safe coming home from work late at night. And it was, essentially, a door-to-door service. She will no longer have this option. This 19-year-old student now has to seriously consider her employment and her financial position in Canberra because she no longer feels safe due to the extra walk that the new route will impose on her. This is not acceptable. Under the new network the Labor-Greens government has effectively cut ANU students off from the rest of Canberra, with students having to walk up to a kilometre to access the nearest bus stop.
International students who attend the ANU college in order to improve their English language skills are often in homestay programs for the duration of their study in Canberra and struggle with the daily commute due to the language barriers they face. International students are already concerned about their safety in our city. The removal of route No 3 just makes it even harder for international students and so many others to receive their tertiary education. Scrapping this route and forcing young, vulnerable students into additional transfers and longer wait times compromises safety and connectivity.
The No 3 route also serves as a direct line to the Canberra and Calvary hospitals for university students, a convenient, accessible and affordable alternative to a taxi or an Uber. The minister has cut off ANU students from health services and employment opportunities. She has made young students feel unsafe travelling at night and has undermined the ability of international students to go to and from classes and, as with everything she manages, she has left behind the people she claims to serve. What is worse is the complete lack of consultation and justification regarding the removal of this service.
I ask the minister to explain to these students how she thought it was in the best interests of ANU students to cut off one of their main connections to the rest of the
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