Page 202 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 February 2018
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reliant on a public transportation system that does not meet their needs and keeps changing for the worse.
That brings me to my second point: in order to have a bus network that actually meets people’s needs, the ACT government needs to talk to those people. In describing the recent bus route changes, the chairman of the Public Transport Association of Canberra publicly stated the following:
Network 17 was prepared fairly quietly and community consultation was lacking.
I suggest that that is a pretty accurate, if gentle, summary of the problem. Once again, Canberrans have found themselves on the receiving end of the ACT government’s dictates, having not been consulted in any meaningful way and being completely caught off guard by changes they neither asked for nor wanted. Yet they continue to pay increased rates and taxes and they certainly deserve better services.
There seems to be a pattern with this government. As I noted in yesterday’s adjournment debate, changes to this year’s Multicultural Festival were also handed down without proper consultation, catching many community organisations completely unaware. Feedback without knowledge of potential changes is not consultation. Damage control after the fact is not consultation either. Literally every single person or organisation that I mentioned in speaking on this topic has pointed out the lack of proper consultation before the latest bus network changes.
When individual constituents, community councils, government schools and the chairman of the public transport advocacy group all publicly comment on a lack of community consultation, then we have a problem. I therefore support Ms Lee’s motion, including its request that the ACT government apologise to Canberra residents for failing to consult with them about changes to the public transportation network. This has resulted in a bus system with flaws that exclude the elderly, workers and students. The government needs to fix this mess and provide Canberrans with the transport options they need from the bus services.
MS LEE (Kurrajong) (5.23): I thank all my colleagues for their support on this motion. I am still at a loss as to how Ms Le Couteur is actually not supporting my motion, given that her speech was full of “Ms Lee this” and “I agree with Ms Lee on that.” It baffles me that I am not receiving her support on this motion.
I know that Ms Le Couteur is an advocate for public transport. I know that she is aware of the issues facing inner south residents. Only yesterday Ms Le Couteur notified the Public Transport Association of Canberra that this motion was coming, because, presumably, she thought it was a worthwhile motion to be debating in the Assembly. So thank you for the sympathy, Ms Le Couteur, but I would much rather have your vote—just to put that on the record.
It was extremely disappointing to hear that the minister once again is not taking this issue seriously. I listened very carefully to the minister’s speech. What I heard was very little on the key issues that I brought up in my motion. What I heard was the same old, same old: “Aren’t we great? We got elected and we’re going to do this and
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