Page153 - Week 01 - Thursday, 3 December 2020
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MR BARR: Thank you, Madam Speaker. If it is okay, Ms Lee, I think I am allowed two minutes to answer the question. I have said, in the context of the administrative arrangements, who the responsible minister is. Of course, the government seeks to engage across all sectors of the community, and we will continue to do so.
The point I was making was that it is simply not possible at times to have an individual portfolio title for every single area, so we have, in the titles of ministers and in the titles of directorates, titles that cover a range of different policy areas, as members are accustomed to. In this instance, the administrative arrangements are very clear.
Mr Parton interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Parton, that is enough.
MR BARR: The administrative arrangements are very clear. Portfolio arrangements are very clear. We will get on with the business of governing. (Time expired.)
MR HANSON: Chief Minister, will you commit to re-establishing a dedicated minister for seniors and veterans?
MR BARR: We have a dedicated minister for seniors and veterans, but if it is of such importance that I add a couple of extra words to a ministerial title when we next update the administrative orders, I am happy to do so.
Transport—active travel
MS CLAY: My question is to the Minister for Transport and relates to cycling and walking numbers during COVID. Minister, has the ACT government undertaken or commissioned a count of pedestrian and cyclist numbers on key active travel routes since the beginning of the COVID period to get a better understanding of shifts in transport patterns over the past year, and to get a better understanding of how we can use this opportunity to increase active travel?
MR STEEL: I thank Ms Clay for her question and for her genuine interest in active travel. I congratulate her on her maiden speech earlier today. The ACT government have been very closely monitoring—as far as we can—the amount of activity that has been occurring, particularly through walking, cycling, running and forms of active travel during the pandemic. We have been meeting with stakeholders like Pedal Power, as well, throughout the period to get a sense of how the trends are changing during this period.
We have seen a marked downturn in the overall travel of Canberrans. We saw an 80 per cent decrease, at the lowest point, in the number of public transport patrons. We saw a 40 per cent drop in the number of people using private vehicles around Canberra at the height of the pandemic. What we have seen, through sources like the app Strava, Google mobility and Apple travel data, is a huge increase in the number of people cycling and walking around our community. But the nature of those trips has
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