Page 4386 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
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To quote from our transport policy at the 2016 election, the ACT Greens vision for light rail has always been for an integrated network across Canberra. Members will also remember that our 2012 parliamentary agreement with the Labor Party required progress on light rail, the completion of stage 1, and also the development of a Canberra-wide light rail network master plan.
That work was done and has led to the progress we are now seeing: the extension of light rail to Woden and the planning for further future stages. This planning of a city-wide light rail network is a very important issue, because it is about the long-term transport and development future of Canberra. It goes to questions like: how do we want people to travel in Canberra in the future? How do we want our city to develop as it grows? Do we want it to be sprawling and car-dominated or do we want it to be more compact, clean and green, with sustainable transport options like light rail as the dominant mode? These are very important questions.
The Greens support a long-term plan for Canberra that will see it grow into a city of world-leading, sustainable day-to-day operation. This means it is based around sustainable transport like public transport, walking and cycling. It is more compact. It is zero emissions. It is resilient to climate change. It is highly livable and convenient. It is a city that has overcome the pitfalls of car dominance, so it is more convenient, does not suffer from congestion, has cleaner air and is more community oriented.
Consistent with this vision, light rail has been a key issue for the ACT Greens. It is an issue we have spent a lot of time advocating on, taking to elections, putting into parliamentary agreements and supporting in this place, despite the concerted efforts of the Canberra Liberals, who, last election, despite the fact that the contracts had been signed and the work was underway, went to the election promising to tear up the contracts.
In the last 10 years, with the Greens holding the balance of power in the ACTÂ Assembly, things have changed a lot on the issue of light rail. It has been a great success story, as was highlighted earlier this week when Minister Steel released the figures for the first six months of light rail.
We now have the first stage of light rail built and operating. As members no doubt know, it is going very well. Patronage is exceeding expectations. The community is very positive about the project, and that critical Northbourne Avenue corridor, the entryway to Canberra, is slowly reshaping and undergoing positive urban renewal. That is a far cry from the future that Northbourne was otherwise destined for, which was a slow and congested traffic jam.
Light rail is an excellent transport mode to build as a high quality, convenient and zero emissions public transport spine right across Canberra. It is what we need to help shift us to a sustainable, convenient and zero emissions city. Historically light rail is better at attracting passengers than buses, and we need to attract more people to public transport. It is a well-proven technology. It is quiet, it runs on renewable electricity and it has beneficial city-shaping qualities. Because of its fixed and permanent nature, it helps create transport corridors of density, which assists the city to grow in a more compact and ultimately more efficient way.
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