Page 3384 - Week 09 - Thursday, 22 August 2019
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mobile office anywhere in Belconnen, meet with residents in their homes or even just bump into them at the local shops, I can be quite certain that I will hear about the woeful state of this government’s transport network. Ordinary Canberrans who have been left high and dry by network 19 are not going to stop talking about it until they have a public transport system that genuinely gets them where they need to go in a reasonable amount of time.
We who live in my electorate of Ginninderra tend to be quite practical people. We can be told that we have more buses more often or that we are better connected, but we tend to see right through flimsy slogans that do not reflect our day-to-day lived experience. Belconnen residents know firsthand that they have fewer bus transport options that take longer than the previous network, and no minister or false assurances are going to convince them otherwise.
I remind this Assembly that I tabled a petition in May that was signed by 1,180 ACT residents about their bus services. I feel confident that many Belconnen residents who work hard in non-office based employment would happily sign a petition this month expressing disgust that promised weekend bus services have been randomly cut, leaving them unable to get to their jobs, with no warning.
In all cases, the residents who speak with me just want simple answers. Why did this government feel compelled to stuff the bus network up so badly? Was it because they do not care about the hardworking families who live in places like west Belconnen? Or was it just sheer incompetence? Can we actually build trams without destroying reliable bus networks in our outer suburbs?
As I have said before in this chamber, people are not stupid. They know what a trip to work or to school or to visit family or the local shops looked like just six months ago and they know what it looks like now. Maybe those opposite think that with just a bit more time people will forget. But they will not. Five, six, seven days each week they are reminded that this government is stealing an hour or more of their precious time that should be spent with their families, friends or hobbies instead.
Every time the Liberals talk about the bus services we hear background noise from the government, yelling, “Do you catch a bus?” or “How about you catch a bus?” When did we stoop so low and think that one needs to actively participate in something to have a discussion about it?
If that is their childish judgement, let me remind them that they brought forward a motion on disposable nappies. Does the proposer have to have a baby to change nappies? Has she ever changed a nappy? Does that make them inadequate to talk about nappies? Based on their childish background noise, it might. But let me assure the Assembly that one does not have to actively participate in something to actually be talking about it. To suggest otherwise is a very poor judgement.
Yesterday we spoke about the vegan diet. Not all of us in this chamber are vegans, but it did not stop us talking about it. In this chamber we represent and are a voice of the people of Canberra from all walks of life—bus rider or not, nappy changer or not, vegan or not. I catch a bus. My husband catches a bus every work day. My five
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