Page 4388 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
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I noted her observations around the fact that stage 1 was a little late. That has not been a secret. What it was was under budget. I think that is something that the Canberra community is very pleased about and reflects well on the project execution by the government and the many staff in ACT government who worked incredibly hard to make sure that the project met those goals.
She talked a lot about the New South Wales Liberal government. She did not mention how far behind Sydney light rail was. That inconvenient truth was left out of her commentary on the various governments. I am sure she just ran out of time. I am sure she was dying to tell us more detail about that one.
The other thing Miss Burch drew together was correlating a whole lot of the issues that she is raising about the bus network with light rail. I think it is fair to say that those two things are unrelated. There was a new timetable that coincided, but a lot of the changes to the bus network actually reflect what the community consultation said people wanted. They wanted more direct routes. They wanted more rapid routes. They are the sorts of things that have been forwarded in the bus network, and that is why we have seen patronage increase on some of those key routes across the city.
That does not mean there does not need to be further thinking and further work on the bus network. I think the government has been up-front about that in acknowledging that work is ongoing. But Miss Burch’s characterisation of the new bus network and the way she has sought to link it to light rail is disingenuous at best. That is the case. I think she needs to recognise that people are appreciating elements of the new network and we have seen patronage increasing in places.
In terms of Mr Gupta’s MPI, I thank him for bringing it forward today. It is important that we talk about both planning of and commitment to a city-wide light rail network. This is a long-term project. It has been the Greens-Labor partnership that has got it moving. After a century of talking about it, we have delivered it for this city. We have got something underway that our community is proud of and that they are using in great numbers, and we are now in a situation where people are saying, “Can you get it to the rest of the city faster, because we really want this for our part of town.” That is what we are working on.
Discussion concluded.
Crossbench executive members’ business
Ordered that crossbench executive members’ business be called on.
Homelessness—housing
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (4.26): I move:
That this Assembly:
(1) notes:
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