PUBLIC TRANSPORT DELAYS

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Transport Services. Will the minister explain why, since she has become minister, 25.2 per cent of buses, trains and trams have not run on time? The audit information obtained by the opposition shows on-time figures for some bus regions as low as 59 per cent. Members will be aware that the minister was appointed by the Premier in October to deal exclusively with public transport.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX (Bright—Minister for Transport Services) (15:01): I thank the member for Bragg for this question. Obviously—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister for Trade, order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX: —buses have run late before the creation of this ministry in October 2011.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: I can guarantee that they did.

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Indeed; the honourable member can guarantee that they did. I should also point out that during this particular time, since October 2007, I have heard nothing but contempt and ridicule and a really horrific attitude towards this actual portfolio in and of itself. What I think that reflects is contempt and ridicule and the dislike of the public transport user. Every single time—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX: —you knock this portfolio, member for Bragg—

Mr PENGILLY: Point of order: the question was very deliberate. This has a total lack of relevance to the minister's answer. It is a nonsense.

The SPEAKER: Thank you; sit down. Minister, can I refer you back to the question?

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Indeed. In answer to the initial question, which was why during my tenure as minister there have been late buses, my answer to the member for Bragg is that previous to that there were also late buses, and—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX: —there are late buses in Melbourne. There are late buses in Sydney. There are late buses all over the world, and I may explain why—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX: —because the member for Bragg has a very, very minimal understanding of what buses do. Let us go through this. First of all, buses are not—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Madam Speaker, the member for Bragg asks the question; how can I answer the question when all I can hear is a wall of noise?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister.

The Hon. C.C. FOX: I would like to answer the question, Madam Speaker. Buses do not run on regulated routes, that is to say they do not have particular transport corridors like trains and trams. Buses are subject to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX: —congestion, roadworks, accidents, weather events. It is inevitable that some buses will run late, but what I will say is this: since 2001 this government has added 1,000 more services than there have ever been before in this state. We have spent more money on public transport than you ever did. As a final comment—and I am sure members opposite do not want to hear this—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Well, obviously you do not want to hear it. If members opposite wanted to hear it, they would stop shouting. Finally, I would point this out: in 2001 when the Liberal Party was still in government—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX: I knew they wouldn't like it, Madam Speaker.

Mr Pengilly: You ought to be put down, fair dinkum.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Finniss will leave the chamber for 15 minutes.

The honourable member for Finniss having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Once again, the member for Finniss and his classy comments about the ladies. Madam Speaker, I would like an apology; that is outrageous. Why should any woman in this parliament stand here and be insulted by the member for Finniss again and again and again? Why does the Leader of the Opposition put up with that kind of behaviour? It reflects on her whole party. I look forward to receiving an apology from the member for Finniss.

Members interjecting:

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! Before you come up with your point of order, I am not sure what the minister was objecting to. If there was a comment that came across the floor, I did not hear it, so you will need to tell us what was said.

The Hon. C.C. FOX: I will, Madam Speaker: I will reiterate the member's comment, which I find deeply offensive.

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX: It would appear that some members opposite do not find it—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member is raising the comment she objects to, for which she wants an apology, and I don't know what that was.

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Well, the member for Finniss suggested, and I quote, that I 'should be put down'.

The SPEAKER: That comment was why the member for Finniss was asked to leave the chamber.

The Hon. C.C. FOX: That is what we do to animals. That is totally inappropriate, and I would ask most respectfully—most respectfully, and if he chooses not to give it—for an apology.

The SPEAKER: The minister is aware that the member is not here because he has been asked to leave the chamber, so I will speak to him afterwards.