Page 5188 - Week 12 - Thursday, 27 October 2011
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Funding of public infrastructure always raises the issue of cost. As Mr Coe has said, he does not like the public subsidisation of public transport. Instead, he has suggested that money should go to other areas. This idea of slashing public transport services and redistributing the money to other areas is concerning. I am sure the public would be equally disturbed at the prospect of a slashing of the public transport system. Survey results of Canberrans and other Australians consistently show that they are happy to contribute to public transport services. In fact they want more money to go to them.
Ms Bresnan has already mentioned the fact that Canberrans want 80 per cent of all transport funding to go to public transport, cycling and walking infrastructure. I would urge members to consider the enormous costs to the community of turning our backs on public transport. The environmental, social, community costs and costs to the economy would be enormous. Applying dollar figures to these burdens puts the cost in the billions.
I am frequently surprised by those purporting to be concerned about cost of living pressures while they are not concerned about the costs of not having a well-run, efficient public transport system, because what it puts onto families is no option or no choice as far as owning a car or having to purchase a second car. Planning a city that relies on car travel locks a lot of Canberrans into car ownership and paying the ongoing costs. The approximate average time that a resident of Canberra has to work in order to pay for their car is 550 hours a year, or 1½ hours every single day, and this is increasing. There is a particular vulnerability to rising petrol costs, and that is a significant cause of why many people are feeling the pinch with cost of living.
The CSIRO recently argued that in the future petrol prices of between $2.60 and $8 per litre would be required in order to constrain petrol consumption to the rate of production and availability. Just think what that will do to our car-reliant city, particularly to families in the outer suburbs who already suffer the most cost of living pressures. I want to point out some interesting facts recently published in the urban economics and policy review. The study found that by running one less car in a household over a 25-year period, the household could accumulate more than an additional $1 million in superannuation over their working life, repay a $300,000 housing loan in 12 years instead of 25 years, saving $245,000 in interest payments, or purchase a home $110,000 more expensive than they would otherwise be able to at the outset. These are significant figures. This is very much an issue which is heavily connected to cost of living and cost of living pressures. Transport options are important; real cost of living factors are involved, and we must not overlook this.
As Ms Bresnan outlined earlier, the efforts of the Greens have so far achieved some very good results for public transport. Negotiations with the government, participation in budget processes and our parliamentary agreement have brought real results. Ms Bresnan mentioned the Red Rapid bus lines which are now carrying Canberrans between Gungahlin, Civic, Barton and Fyshwick. There are millions of dollars for footpaths and bike paths and new park and rides. Mr Coe raised the issue about people having to get connecting buses from outer suburbs. That is why park and rides are so important, and that is why the lockers there for people who want to ride their bikes, lock them up and then get on the buses are so important.
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