Page 2146 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 28 August 2007
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I would certainly be concerned if the government went down the path of wasting millions more dollars on future busways that may or may not happen in 30 or 40 years time, which is what seems to be the government’s current planning. Those are some of the recommendations that I oppose but, broadly, there are some good recommendations. I repeat: With the resources and the time available to it, the committee was not really able to drill down to many of these issues or to do some of the economic analyses. It is now up to the government to take it up and to do the relevant economic analyses.
It is incumbent on us to ensure that the message to this government is strong. At the moment our bus network is not working very well and there is significant community concern. It is not just the most vulnerable who are concerned; it is also the elderly, the young and people with disabilities. Those three groups put forward their views forcefully that this bus network is not serving their needs and that there is significant concern in the community about it. I say to the government that this report is a start; hopefully will spark some changes from the government. I hope that the government takes this issue seriously but, more importantly, I hope that it will heed the strong message from the community that it needs to be fixed.
The only other point I make, which is reflected in my additional comments, relates to sustainable transport generally and to public transport. We must look at fixing this system. I do not think that constantly punishing car users is the way to go. I highlighted several challenges, and Mr Hargreaves furiously nodded his head in agreement. It is simply not viable to force people in the ACT onto buses by making it harder for them to drive their cars, by taking away their car parks, or by ramping up prices.
Because of the nature of Canberra and the way in which it is designed, people will not get on buses en masse; they will simply have a much less convenient journey to work, given that they will have to park further away and pay more. But buses simply will not be a viable option for most people—for the mother in Gungahlin or the parents in Tuggeranong who have to take their kids to school, pick them up from sport afterwards, and then go to work or work part time.
I object to the current approach to sustainable transport; that is, of making it really difficult for people to drive their cars. I think we need to improve our bus system and we need to look for ways to get more out of our $60 million subsidy per annum. But I, and clearly most Canberrans, do not favour the approach of simply punishing car users. I counsel the government against going down that path because I do not think it is good policy. I do not think it will achieve the ends that the government desires and I think we will see a pretty strong electoral backlash if the government seriously goes down that path.
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (10.49): I welcome the report of the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment into ACTION buses. I am pleased that the committee used the words “sustainable transport plan” in the title of its report. Over the last couple of years, in particular, since the impact of the functional review, I have been concerned about the fact that the government lost sight of its sustainable transport
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