Page 4681 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 27 November 2019
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need. Despite the fact that they have had over 130 so-called tweaks, they still have not addressed the needs of Tuggeranong residents.
There were some announcements today about public transport in Tuggeranong. It was about some more parking. On the face of it, that is a great thing; but why do we need more parking? It is because they have taken away all of the bus stops and bus services in other areas of Wanniassa, so residents have no choice now but to drive to the Wanniassa park and ride, as there is no bus stop near them. It is too little, too late.
When you take away a big chunk of people’s services, give them a little bit back and expect them to be grateful for it, it is no wonder Tuggeranong residents feel that they are disadvantaged. Despite these shows of support for people on the south side and for people in Tuggeranong, the perception of being neglected, abandoned and the poor cousin remains in Tuggeranong, and it is such a shame.
We have also heard some talk about light rail, but I can assure you, despite not being averse to active travel in any way, that it is a very long way from Tuggeranong to the nearest light rail stop. Why have we taken away Tuggeranong bus services and not replaced them with anything else? Residents of Tuggeranong deserve better. Thanks, Miss Burch, for your motion, and shame on the government for neglecting the residents of Tuggeranong.
MISS C BURCH (Kurrajong) (5.14): Of course, I am in no way surprised by Ms Le Couteur’s comments today. Ms Le Couteur has a track record of pretending to care about bus users across Canberra in public and in the media, even going so far as to claim credit for a motion earlier in the year that was not hers. However, Ms Le Couteur continues to vote down or amend my motions which call for tangible, real action on the bus chaos. At best she has shown herself to be a hypocrite, and at worst it is borderline deceitful to the people she claims to represent.
Her amendment today is yet another example of this. She has chosen to support Minister Steel’s watered down amendment which does nothing but pat the government on the back for a job poorly done. In contrast to Ms Le Couteur’s claims, I am calling not for the positive aspects of network 19 to be reversed just for these serious shortcomings to finally be addressed. What is worse is that Ms Le Couteur’s amendment endorses the government’s policy on territory-wide car-free days and car-free areas. If Ms Le Couteur is genuine in her desire to have fewer Canberrans relying on their cars, she would be supporting my motion and demanding some real solutions from this minister.
While the minister may continue to stick his head in the sand and deny that there is a problem, I think the headlines very simply speak for themselves—the headlines from the Canberra Times this year alone, in reference to Canberra’s bus network. On 18 March the headline read “New bus network raises concerns”. Again on 18 March, the headline was “School bus changes to see students cross busy roundabout in peak hour”.
On 24 April we saw “A lesson in double-speak, courtesy of your non-existent school bus”. On 28 April we saw “School buses a class war battleground”. On 29 April the
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