Page 2664 - Week 07 - Thursday, 2 August 2018
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As Ms Berry did, I want to respond briefly to Miss Burch’s speech. Miss Burch at one point called the government “disingenuous”. At the same time she is claiming that the new bus network is a done deal. Ms Fitzharris has repeatedly said that the government is undertaking a genuine process of consultation with the community on the new bus network.
Miss Burch claimed that parents have expressed a strong preference for dedicated school bus services, but the data shows that only one in 20 primary school children catch the bus to school. I can assure Miss Burch that the directorate’s and the government’s intention is to improve bus services across Canberra based on data and based on what we actually know about how people behave. This includes improving services for school students, making catching the bus a better and an easier choice. What I am worried about is, as Ms Berry said, the Canberra Liberals’ never-ending scare campaigns and fearmongering.
In other capital cities across the country, school children happily use regular public transport systems to get to and from school. Talking about choice, a bus that goes each way once per day does not actually provide much choice for those who want to engage in after-school activities, and it does not increase safety for kids who miss the bus and are left stranded at a bus stop that only serves school buses.
We do need to have an informed discussion on this subject, and that is exactly what this government is doing. That is exactly what Transport Canberra and City Services is doing. It is very important to hear about the experience of parents and school children in using the buses that they have today, and how they consider they will be able to use the buses in the new network. I strongly encourage those opposite to in turn encourage their constituents to engage in the formal consultation process and to provide their feedback to Transport Canberra and City Services. I can assure them that all feedback received will be taken seriously.
Discussion concluded.
Animal Diseases Amendment Bill 2018
Debate resumed from 7 June 2018, on motion by Mr Gentleman:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (4.25): This amendment bill makes the marking of sheep, goats and pigs in the ACT mandatory under the national livestock identification system. It is a nationally agreed scheme which is currently only mandatory for cattle. Its principal purpose is to provide birth to death traceable information on domestic livestock to assist in the biosecurity management or disease management of livestock. We will be supporting the bill, but I will just make a few brief comments on it.
The national livestock identification system, NLIS, is Australia’s system for tracing domestic stock. It uses visually readable ear tags printed with a property identification
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