PUBLIC TRANSPORT FARE EVASION

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (15:06): My question is to the Minister for Transport Services. Will the minister explain why her crackdown on public transport fare evaders, announced in May, has failed? On 5 May this year The Advertiser published an article stating that there had been a crackdown on fare evasion on public transport, that the number of fines issued had tripled and, further, that there were 175 transport department employees in the field trying to catch the fare evaders. That was in May. Today, an article published in The Advertiser stated that the government is now planning one of its 'biggest crackdowns on fare evasion' because observed fare evasion has significantly increased.

The Hon. C.C. FOX (Bright—Minister for Transport Services) (15:07): The current operation that the—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX: —member for Bragg refers to began on 21 August. Just because people evade fares in May does not mean that they are not going to evade fares in September, so Operation Lightning began on 21 August—

Ms Chapman: Operation Lightning!

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.C. FOX: Operation Lightning—

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon: It's handy to have a code name generator.

The Hon. C.C. FOX: It is. We look forward to seeing its results.