Page 3128 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 20 August 2019
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(c) weekend service reliability rates are around 90 percent, well below the 99.5 percent target outlined in the Budget papers and, as of August, over 3000 services have been cancelled; and
(d) the failure of the ACT Government to deliver reliable weekend services under Network19;
(2) calls on the Government, drivers and unions to negotiate a future enterprise agreement that allows the delivery of frequent and reliable weekend services equivalent to those contained in Network19;
(3) calls on the Minister for Transport and City Services to urgently examine innovative options, such as demand responsive services, that can deliver the promised level of service with a lower number of drivers; and
(4) calls on the ACT Government to include paragraphs (2) and (3) above in the Action Plan and quarterly reporting agreed by the Assembly in its resolution of 14 August 2019, entitled Network 19—Weekend bus services.”.
Just to be clear, I will not be supporting Miss Burch’s motion—
Opposition members interjecting—
MS LE COUTEUR: That is because, members of the opposition, it contains a number of factual errors and also, unfortunately, does not have a lot about trying to go forward rather than backwards. What I am concentrating on, as far as possible, is going forward, not backwards.
Opposition members interjecting—
Mr Rattenbury: Madam Speaker, a point of order.
MADAM SPEAKER: Point of order. Resume your seat, please, Ms Le Couteur.
Mr Rattenbury: Miss Burch’s strong comments were heard in silence. Ms Le Couteur has been heckled since the moment she got on her feet.
MADAM SPEAKER: Yes. I will call people to order. That is true: Miss C Burch was heard in silence. Ms Le Couteur.
MS LE COUTEUR: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I appreciate the courtesy, which I hope will soon be shown to me during my address.
The first item in Miss Burch’s motion notes:
… the recent decision from the Minister for Transport and City Services to cut weekend bus services, despite repeated commitments to resolve weekend staffing shortages …
Miss Burch has made my speech a little shorter by kindly quoting my press release of Friday on this. I was decidedly not impressed with this. I was disappointed. I felt it was incredibly disrespectful. Firstly, it was disrespectful to all of us here. We had a long debate on this subject, and cutting services was not mentioned once.
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