TRAMLINE EXTENSION

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (14:28): My question is to the Minister for Transport. Will the minister advise the house when his department will be undertaking work to replace the overhead powerlines on the tramline? The opposition has been informed that, due to cost cutting by the government on the tram extension, there is considerable concern regarding the pantograph and overhead wires. Technical officers within TransAdelaide have advised that the wires will need to be replaced, costing the South Australian taxpayers millions of dollars.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON (Elder—Minister for Transport, Minister for Infrastructure, Minister for Energy) (14:28): The member for Morphett has been in this house on a number of occasions making up stories about the trams, or allegedly hearing voices about the trams. There was some dreadful disease we were going to catch from blue and yellow fungus which, of course, was an absolute nonsense and this time, regrettably, even though The Advertiser was told there was no basis to what he said, it was reported today that the overhead wires for some reason are wearing out too fast, causing carbon to enter airconditioners. So, it is not disease anymore, it is carbon. I am sure that if we are around for long enough, the member for Morphett will suggest that the trams are in fact responsible for climate change and global warming, but let us just make sure that we understand that, once again, he is selling a completely bogus story.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: He thinks he is okay if he gets one out of a hundred.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: If he ever gets one right! How many times in this chamber do we have to stand up and deal with completely bogus stories from the member for Morphett? There is no evidence from TransAdelaide to suggest that trolley wire is wearing out at a greater rate since the introduction of the new trams. It is just not true. For the benefit of the member for Morphett, what occurs on the trams (and all trams which have a pantograph, which I think would be most trams in the world) is that the pantograph itself—

The Hon. J.D. Lomax-Smith: What is a pantograph?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: The pantograph is the little bit that sticks up on top.

The Hon. K.O. Foley interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: It supplies the wire. The pantograph itself is fitted with carbon strip. This carbon strip is a consumable: it is designed to wear out. It is made of carbon, and that carbon does fall onto the top of the tram, as it does on every tram around the world operated by a pantograph. This used to occur with the old trams too, of course, except that the old trams had two pantographs rather than one each, so I suspect that there would probably be less wear.

I am advised that our pantograph carbon strips do not wear out any faster than those in Melbourne but that there can be uneven wear in the strips in a shuttle service because they turn a lot of corners. That is an element, I am advised, of a shuttle service. It is true that Melbourne is able to optimise the tensioning of its wire on its lines, which we are not able to do in the old part between Glenelg and Victoria Square. It is not a major problem—and we are not talking about wires wearing out, we are talking about the carbon strips—but it is because the poles will not bear the tension. It is not a problem; it is something that will be done when it is needed, and probably not for quite some time.

It is regrettable, having heard that quite dull and mundane explanation, that the member for Morphett is prepared to say anything at all to undermine our public transport system. It is not great reading, but I actually picked up his report from his trip overseas to study trams, and the trams that he says that he does not like are the ones to which he gave a pretty good endorsement—the Bombardier trams—while he was overseas, but he did not like the other trams. The truth is that the member for Morphett will say anything or do anything to criticise the trams with no regard even for things he himself said in the past.

The trams are a victim of their own success. That is the only problem that we have with the trams, because ticketed patronage has increased by 15 per cent. For that reason they are—I advise The Advertiser—more crowded than they used to be. The Advertiser enjoys challenges and stunts, so I would ask that the Editor of The Advertiser, Mel Mansell, accompany me to Melbourne and Sydney and ride some peak-hour services.

I know what happens on our services. I do not want one of the junior journalists; I would like the Editor of The Advertiser to travel with me to Melbourne and Sydney and ride some peak-hour services just so that he has a little proper perspective, and so that we have some perspective in this debate. The question of the member for Morphett, once again, is simply another bogus invention from the member for Morphett.