Page 4669 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
priority; restore dedicated school services to ease the concerns of parents like Daniel, Shannon and Maria; bring back the 752 stops, the Xpresso routes, the suburban services in Tuggeranong that Canberrans used to rely on to get home from work in a reasonable hour; deliver the weekend timetable you promised Canberrans; and assure patrons like Mary that when a bus is scheduled to come on a weekend it will show up.
Do your job. Listen to Canberrans. Admit that you have made a mistake. Fix the mess you have created and restore some credibility to our transport system. I commend this motion to the Assembly.
MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee—Minister for City Services, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Recycling and Waste Reduction, Minister for Roads and Active Travel and Minister for Transport) (4.33): I start by welcoming Candice Burch into the chamber. For the second time in two days the opposition has been so completely distracted that government ministers have had to call for a quorum.
Mrs Jones: Point of order.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: A point of order.
MR STEEL: What a joke.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Sit down. Mr Steel, when a point of order is called you are required to sit down. On the point of order, Mrs Jones.
Mrs Jones: I believe the minister referred to the member by her first name, and I believe the protocol in the Assembly is that we are referred to by our titles.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: There was some discussion about this in the changes to the standing orders, but Miss Burch prefers to be known as Miss Burch. I remind Mr Steel of that and ask him to address her accordingly.
MR STEEL: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. This distraction from Assembly business is unprecedented. It is unprecedented in this chamber. I am glad to have the belated opportunity today to discuss the important matter of transport. It once again provides me with the opportunity to comment on Canberra’s bus network and the government’s work to ensure that Canberrans have a reliable, safe and connected public transport system.
On 17 September 2019 I tabled the weekend bus reliability action plan, which outlined 10 concrete actions to be delivered. The action plan outlined how services would be increased when their reliability can be ensured. The government recognised that weekend service reliability was lower than target performance and committed to a comprehensive 10-point plan to address and resolve these issues.
Members would be aware that on 28 September 2019 Transport Canberra introduced the interim updated weekend timetable that sought to address the unacceptable levels of reliability for weekend bus services. In the 28 September timetable change, the service frequency of local bus routes was changed to every two hours for weekend
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video