Page 3003 - Week 08 - Thursday, 15 August 2019
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perfectly competent Acting Chief Health Officer in place and she is doing a fantastic job.
MRS JONES: Minister, what implications for healthcare outcomes for Canberrans are presented by the lack of a permanent chief health officer since March?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Jones for the supplementary. As I noted, there is an Acting Chief Health Officer in place who is doing a great job, and there are no implications for the community. We will of course work as quickly as possible now to recruit a permanent chief health officer but the current Acting Chief Health officer is doing a great job.
MS CHEYNE: Minister, have we been without an acting or a chief health officer during the past 10 months?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: Not to my knowledge, Ms Cheyne.
Tuggeranong—public transport
MS LAWDER: My question is to the minister for transport: in a recent ABC radio interview you admitted that patronage in Tuggeranong has fallen since the introduction of network 19. When will your government be giving residents in Tuggeranong the public transport they deserve?
MR STEEL: I thank Ms Lawder for her question. That data is freely available and was provided to the estimates committee. It is something that we continue to monitor as the system rolls out. Obviously we are in the early days of the new public transport system and we have seen overall a very significant increase in the number of people using public transport. Journeys are up by 10.5 per cent over the first 10 weeks of the new network compared with the same period in 2018. Overall there is a significant strength. In relation to the regions—
Ms Lawder: A point of order, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Minister, resume your seat, please; there is a point of order.
Ms Lawder: The question was very specific about patronage in Tuggeranong falling since the introduction of network 19. Not generally across the system: in Tuggeranong.
MADAM SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Lawder. I will ask the minister to come to that point, if he has more comments to add.
MR STEEL: We continue to monitor the new transport system and how people are using it throughout all parts of Canberra, including in Tuggeranong. We are looking at whether some tweaks need to be made in certain areas. We have already made a substantial number of tweaks, particularly working with local schools, and we will continue to monitor the outcome of the new network.
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