Public Transport Levy

Mr WINGARD (Mitchell) (15:04): Given there is no set formula for a set fee, can the minister guarantee that, if the transport levy is paid by the event organiser, event goers won't have to pay for public transport?

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) (15:05): I really don't know what I can do, Mr Speaker, to make this any clearer for the member for Mitchell. It will be up to the venue manager, the event organiser, about how those costs are recovered; that is, within their purview it is absolutely—

Mr Wingard interjecting:

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: They can all three of them pay.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: That's right; everyone can pay, because the people who get the benefits of the public transport should make a contribution towards it. This is the kind of bold user-pays policy which has been advocated by people on that side of the house since the election. And since they finally have it—with such rapture they approach this, Mr Speaker—it's all suddenly too hard, too incomprehensible and too unattractive for them. It is absolutely extraordinary.