Page 1720 - Week 06 - Thursday, 13 August 1992
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Retirement of Mr Bill Spellman
MR HUMPHRIES (6.38): Madam Speaker, I have been impressed by the comments about Mr Spellman. I never met the gentleman, as far as I am aware; but one small observation comes to mind. I understood Mr Berry to say that Mr Spellman began life as a trapper, and I assume that in those days he would have used steel-jaw traps and roamed around the place. I am glad Mr Spellman has retired, because under this new Labor vision he would not have been able to follow those homely pursuits that he did when he first began his working life.
Downtowner Bus Service
MR STEVENSON (6.39): I would like to commend Mr Humphries on paying such attention to what Mr Berry said. We will never be able to say that he does not listen.
Mr Lamont: But he does not understand.
MR STEVENSON: I think he understood well; he put the point very well. I wish to talk briefly about that magnificent service, the Downtowner bus. It is free, unbeknown to most people in Canberra. I have said in this Assembly before that it is a truly wonderful idea for tourists. The buses look absolutely great, they enhance the city, and I think it is a nice service to allow people to travel around the city freely.
I followed one one day and tried to find out where it indicated that it was free. There is a tiny little spot on the front left-hand angle where it says "Free Service", but it is a well-kept secret. I rang the head of ACTION and mentioned that perhaps larger signs could be placed tastefully on the bus to let everybody know that it is a free service. You quite often see the bus largely empty as it goes around. Five people is about the most I have ever seen in it.
If the majority of people in Canberra knew it was free, or if the bus itself had "Free Service" where you could see it, all the tourists would hop on. Because some people may not think there is any problem, we added a question on it to one of our surveys. We found that more than half the people in Canberra do not know that it is free. There was a bias in the survey. Most people asked were in the city, where the bus runs around. If you went into the suburbs you would get a much higher percentage of people who do not know. I simply say: It is a wonderful service. Let people know it is free. I will be happy to get out there with the paint. After I have finished with the trams, you will certainly know that they are free.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Assembly adjourned at 6.41 pm until Tuesday, 18 August 1992, at 2.30 pm
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