Page 2955 - Week 09 - Thursday, 18 September 2014
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services that can support that higher density of population. It is the right decision for our city. It is also consistent with our projections of population growth across our city. Gungahlin is the fastest growing area of our city. It is growing at five times the rate of the rest of Canberra. Northbourne Avenue itself is one of the most congested road corridors in our city, if not the most congested. These are all reasons why investment in light rail along this corridor is the right decision for our city and it is why this government is getting on with that job.
It is important that we get our priorities right for public transport, and getting our priorities right is not to knock down the big idea. Instead, it is to focus on why we have developed our city in the way we have and why we need to make this investment decision now.
We will need to continue to see a range of responses to improve public transport across our city. Network 14 makes many substantial improvements in terms of service frequency and in terms of service coverage. These are important reforms and they will need to continue. We will need to continue to invest in bus priority measures across our city and we will need to invest in world-class public transport infrastructure like light rail to help turn around our perceptions of public transport as a meaningful choice to move around our city and as a way of meeting our modal split targets set out in transport for Canberra.
This government has a clear vision for public transport. It has a clear vision for managing the transport system in our city, and we are getting on with the job of making those critical investments.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (3.50): Quality public transport is and always will remain a focus for the ACT Greens. We see it as a real priority for this city and, as my Greens colleagues and I have argued consistently over all the years we have been in the Assembly, quality public transport is key to the future of the city if we want it to be a place that is liveable, healthy and convenient. You will be doing well to find a successful city in the world that says, “Hey, what we need to do is focus on cars more,” or that says, “Our success is due to de-prioritising public transport.” It is exactly the opposite.
One of the false dichotomies used by the opposition, no doubt as part of a political tactic to denigrate me or the government, and especially to try to diminish the benefits of light rail, is to say that because the government is building light rail it does not care about ACTION or it does not care about some other issue. That also is completely false. Members will know that I have always valued and argued strongly for a better bus system. ACTION is also key to the success of light rail, as Minister Corbell has just touched on, and I want both modes of transport to work in an integrated way to bring all of Canberra a first-class public transport network.
Light rail is not a replacement for Canberra’s buses. It is a complement to them. With light rail forming a rapid and regular public transport spine, buses will feed passengers into the light rail, significantly extending the catchment for public transport across our city. What I have in fact found over the years in the Assembly is that I am continually arguing the merits of buses in the face of denigration and attacks
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