Page 2253 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 4 August 2015

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I have talked many times about the vital role that transport connections play in our city. Good transport brings people closer to services and closer to each other. An integrated transport network such as a light rail system that integrates well with buses or good pedestrian and bike networks that link people into public transport have a vast impact on the way a city works and the way people can live in a city like that.

I am confident that this government are focused on trying to achieve that and we are taking very good steps in that direction. Light rail of course is the most obvious example and the one that has had a lot of discussion in this place, and I would once again like to draw the Assembly’s attention to a media release of 30 June last year in which the now Chief Minister and I stated quite clearly that cabinet had just endorsed four key points when it came to public housing.

The first was accelerating the renewal and redevelopment of ageing public housing stock. The second was responding to the needs and preferences of tenants along the proposed Northbourne Avenue redevelopment sites by providing accommodation within an 800-metre corridor, including Flemington Road, in the inner north and the city where possible. The third point was growing social housing through new partnerships, innovation, intelligent design, public-private partnerships and specific project budget bids that align with government priorities. The fourth was maintaining the salt-and-pepper approach to public housing in existing suburbs and expanding this approach to public housing in new and developing areas.

It is clear that light rail stage 1 will create a fantastic transport corridor. Work is occurring already along Northbourne Avenue through the $20 million allocated to TAMS to connect surrounding areas into that transport corridor. Research shows that the travelling population appreciates the clear and fixed nature of light rail much more than it does buses and that catchment for people walking to light rail is generally 800 metres to a kilometre. This contrasts with the bus catchments which are in the order of 400 to 500 metres. The ACTION bus network will also be reworked to integrate into the light rail corridor, connections will be made as close to seamless as possible, and a single smart card will work for fare payment on both buses and light rail.

Beyond this integration, members will have noticed—and certainly people in the community have noticed—that network 14 brought bus services to the developing areas of Coombs and Wright, for example. Those services were in place early in the development of the suburbs, which is critical to helping to change people’s transport habits. The patronage on these services has grown strongly and they are becoming quite popular as more and more residents move into these suburbs.

This vision of public transport integrated into the fabric and planning of the city is not a vision shared by our Liberal Party colleagues. Their vision of transport, it seems, is one of endless reliance on private car travel. They overlook the fact that this is typically a severe disadvantage to people who live in public housing or people who are already disadvantaged. It is a recipe for social exclusion, for congestion, for pollution, for growing expenses, for an inhibited economy and is generally a way to erode the attractive aesthetic of Canberra and replace it with the gridlocked rat race of Sydney.


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