Airport Bus

Mr WINGARD (Mitchell) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Can the minister confirm that the new 92 seat double-decker airport bus has never carried more passengers on a single trip than would fit on a regular-sized Adelaide metro bus?

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) (14:59): Thank you, Mr Speaker. This was a matter which I had the pleasure of discussing on morning radio—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The minister will be heard in silence. The member for Taylor is called to order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I must admit, Mr Speaker, I didn't seek a breakdown of the exact patronage of every service that the JetExpress JX1 service has been providing and the numbers of patrons on it, perhaps because I presumed the member for Mitchell wouldn't be so lazy and tardy just to follow a story that had been litigated in the media previously—

Mr PISONI: Point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —but, nonetheless I am happy to provide some information.

The SPEAKER: Point of order.

Mr PISONI: 127: imputing improper motives or to make personal reflections on a member.

The SPEAKER: The reference to the member for Mitchell as lazy?

Mr PISONI: Yes, sir.

The SPEAKER: The minister is called to order. That was unnecessary. There was nothing outwardly provocative in the question. Minister.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. A couple of the points that I did raise this morning when discussing this matter on radio was that the idea behind introducing this service was to bring Adelaide into a consistent standard with most if not all of the other major cities around Australia and provide a public transport link between our major airport and the CBD. Particularly given the fine work that's been done in recent times attracting new hotel and tourism accommodation developments within the CBD, it's important that we've got such a service operating between the airport and the city.

Admittedly, patronage hasn't been to the extent that we would have liked, although I can say in trend terms that it has been increasing, albeit incrementally. When we've had periods when there have been significant tourism events and activities within Adelaide, we've seen a corresponding increase in the patronage on that service. A good example is an increase in patronage in March of this year which, of course, is the Festival and Fringe season as well as all the other events that we now have in March.

Of course, the largest and highest number of passengers we've had on that service was most recently in July, which correlates to the Liverpool game that we had at Adelaide Oval. I'm also told that we had (if I get the name right) the Southern University Games (I think they were called), and we had in July approximately 2,100 people in that month, which is the highest number we've had to date. Of course, in the preceding month in June, when there were fewer tourism activities that might attract people into Adelaide to use the service from the airport to the city, we had—and I don't have the figure in front of me—the lowest number in that month, and that's why the service patronage fluctuates on the JX1 service; but, we course hold true to the mantra that it is important to invest in public transport services here in Adelaide to try to grow patronage on our network.

It's good in this instance for tourism and it's good in general terms to alleviate the congestion on our roads and provide people with another option of moving about our communities. I should add that the service that we're discussing—the JetExpress JX1 service that operates between the airport and the CBD—is something that we've been discussing with the airport as well. I think both the government and the airport recognise the need to improve visibility of the service, to improve signage and information about the service, and there is also an opportunity to replicate those efforts not just at the airport but, of course, at the hotels and other accommodation services where tourists might be staying in Adelaide.

Mr Bell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mount Gambier is warned for the second and final time. Member for Mitchell.