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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 10 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 3660 ..

MR CORNWELL (6.10): It is ironic that we should be debating the future of the Canberra-Sydney rail line when the Alice Springs to Darwin line is just about complete. There is a deep irony in that. Of course, there is an irony anyway in the fact that our Chief Minister, who is sitting over there all by himself-it looks like the Canberra railway station-tells us that this is an important matter for the Assembly to address.

Why didn't you people discuss it earlier? We in the opposition had to raise the matter of this service in question time before we got any sort of response. Then we were advised that you had written to Mr Carr. I think it is further ironic that this is the Labor Party, who purports to look after the battlers. Who uses the train services? The battlers-the aged, people with a disability-

Mrs Cross: Young people.

MR CORNWELL: And young people. Thank you, Mrs Cross. A reasonable cross-section of people who you could say cannot afford airfares and many who do not want to use buses. We have discussed the disability problem, the problem of people not being able to walk around a bus with the same ease as they can on a train or, may I say, use toilets to the same extent as they are able to on a train. That is a very important factor for older and elderly people.

May I also say that pensioners are currently entitled to a couple of free train trips a year-and I am sorry the Treasurer is not here-unlike self-funded retirees, who are not entitled to a couple of free train trips interstate. But these matters have already been canvassed, Mr Speaker, and I do not want to go over that ground.

In our concern for the battlers, which this Labor government does not seem to be too concerned about, we are in good company. I received a letter from a CountryLink driver, representing some 12 drivers from Goulburn, protesting about the closure of this rail link. They have sought help so that seven shifts a week can be reinstated on the present reductions. The cancellation of these two services will involve 14 fewer visitor opportunities-and we are spending $14.5 million to encourage people to come to Canberra. This does not seem to be a very positive way of doing that.

Mr Stanhope himself said that there are 170,000 Canberra-Sydney and Sydney-Canberra rail trips on an annual basis. We do not seem to be doing much to encourage it. However, the people in Goulburn were concerned about this. Just to give you an indication of what has been happening, Goulburn used to have 660 people working on the railways. It was a rail hub. The gentleman concerned explained this to me and broke it down to the extent that there were 300 train drivers, 300 firemen/observers and around 60 shunters and station staff, et cetera. This has now been reduced to an appalling, piddling 12 drivers.

We talk about Canberra and Sydney and that rail link. I think we should also consider the intervening stations, because by closing off rail lines you are severing the arteries of a state, and that has been happening for years. It is no good replacing them with buses or with trucks for your produce or your freight. One could be suspicious about whether the truckers are not getting involved in this issue.

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