Page 2954 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 14 August 2019
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The new bus routes and timetable books put out can be very heavy for someone like me, and if I need to travel to the north side of Canberra, it can take the majority of my day to get to my destination and back home. Please address this issue which has been created for the elderly like myself and doubtless many others with disabilities, health issues, et cetera.
I pride myself because until now, I have managed to live independently with limited help, but the poor system you have introduced has taken away my independence. Please consider giving me back my bus service and independence, which I need.
This is not a single example. This is indicative of dozens, if not hundreds, of letters, emails and messages that I have received. There is no “integrated” in the transport network for people in the southern suburbs. In many places there is not even transport or a network. There are no buses and there is no light rail; there are only taxis, families and the flexibus. We are kidding ourselves if we are talking about an integrated transport network. We are kidding ourselves if we think it is encouraging people to use public transport, because it is sending people away from public transport, not because they do not like public transport but because they do not have any public transport anymore.
The light rail being crowded is a great issue to have. The concept of putting on more services to meet demand is a great issue to have. But let us not forget about those people for whom there are no longer any transport options, or very limited transport options. Some areas have a wealth of riches, a surfeit of riches, but people in the south once again feel like the poor cousins—the forgotten, the neglected, the left out. Please, if you are going to have an integrated transport network, consider having integration, having transport and having a network.
MR PETTERSSON (Yerrabi) (5.54): In closing, I listened with great interest to all of the speakers, and I took particular note of what the opposition had to say. I notice that we have a bit of an audience now, so I thought I would remind everyone listening that this motion is about light rail. For those that listened and might have got confused, this motion is not about buses, but I can see how some people might get confused between the two. To borrow some phrasing from earlier today, light rail starts with an “L”; buses start with a “B”. They are very different.
The other observation that I would make is that it is like getting blood from a stone, trying to get the Canberra Liberals to discuss just how popular light rail is. They dance around it in every way they can. They mention that they have discussed it with someone who thought it was popular. But they will not utter the words themselves that light rail is popular.
The final observation that definitely needs to be remarked on is that Ms Lawder admitted that she had never been on light rail. Ms Lawder, I understand that you are from the deep south of Canberra. I am from Gungahlin, and I extend an invitation to you to come along. I will take you on light rail. We can make an adventure of it. I am sure you will enjoy it. Maybe at that point you will talk about how popular it is. But I digress, Madam Speaker.
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