Page 503 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 February 2020
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MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Are you not going to withdraw it?
Ms Lawder: No.
Ms Cheyne: Name her.
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: You are warned.
Ms Lawder: Thank you.
MR STEEL: Members of the opposition must come clean with Canberrans over their plans to privatise Transport Canberra’s bus services. Our government’s vision is clear—the government is continuing to get on with the job of delivering public transport for Canberrans and keeping bus services in public hands. We will continue to look at data, we will continue to listen to the community on how our public transport network is operating and we will continue to make practical changes to improve the transport network and bus routes, expand the success and benefits of light rail to other parts of our city and encourage even more people to use public transport.
Those are the things that I said we would do and those are the things that we have done consistently since network 19 has come in and we will continue to do going forward. We will continue to listen to the community and we will continue to look at the data, we will continue to make improvements to the system, as we have done over the past 10 months and as we have done in the many years before that as well. This is what we will continue to do in the future to improve public transport and to increase the very significant growth that we have seen in public transport patronage in this city.
MR PARTON (Brindabella) (3.11): This motion lacks detail, and I think that is by design, because this motion is about some very simple concepts. It is essentially about the concept of human decency. In this motion we are calling upon the minister to apologise. We understand that, in the big picture of the changes that are being made to the transport system, there are some good stories. We have heard Minister Steel roll some of them out, and there is no doubt that there have been some winners. But there are also a lot of really, really bad stories.
Minister Steel spoke of young people who are getting on public transport for the first time. I have two young people at my house were forced to buy cars because, at the point that the changes were made, they were not able to get to their destinations on time. It is wonderful for Ms Cheyne to roll her eyes, but for one of those young people it would have required a 6.15 am bus to get from Theodore to Narrabundah on time.
I think that everybody, in their hearts, agrees that the trashing of the bus network—or at least the changes to the bus network—has had a massive negative effect on the lives of many people, irrespective of the positive effect that it may have had on others. There have been a large number of people who have been negatively impacted. I have spoken firsthand to many who have been severely affected by the changes. They are angry and hurt, and one of the decent things to do for these people is to apologise.
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