Footy Express

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:56): A supplementary question, if I may, to the Minister for Transport. Can the minister advise the house whether he has called for a report in respect of the patronage of the buses provided for the royal visit, given that only some 20,000 people attended for a published expected crowd of 50,000 and, if so, what did it say?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister Assisting the Minister for Planning, Minister Assisting the Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:56): I thank the Deputy Leader for her question. It is a good question. Members may recall that we provided some additional bus services, some express services, from Adelaide out to Elizabeth, also from Mawson Lakes and from Tea Tree Plaza out to Elizabeth to help people who were very keen to see the royal couple out at Elizabeth. Those services ran between 7am and 9am in the morning and there were return services between 1pm and 3pm.

My advice to date is that they were reasonably patronised; they certainly weren't overcrowded by and large. I don't have the exact figures with me, but I would be happy to provide them to the house. Providing these sorts of additional public transport services is important for these sorts of events. We work to do it where we can, but I will bring specific details back to the house in due course.