Public Transport

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:15): My question is for the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government. Can the minister inform the house about the history of public transport in South Australia and how the Marshall government is building a better public transport system?

Mr Szakacs interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister, be seated. The member for Cheltenham can leave for half an hour under 137A for interjecting despite being on two warnings. When he does, the minister will have the call.

The honourable member for Cheltenham having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:16): Can I say that the decisions that the Marshall Liberal government have taken and announced over the last few days in relation to our public transport system are going to deliver a better and brighter future for South Australian communities.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Elizabeth, you can join the member for Cheltenham for half an hour under 137A.

The honourable member for Elizabeth having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call. I would like to hear the answer.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: We took to the election a policy of delivering a customer-focused public transport network. We took to the election a policy of not accepting that the status quo is okay. I think in government you have to accept that, if you want to change the outcome—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —you need to start to do things differently. You cannot simply accept that the way we do things today is going to deliver different results, because it doesn't.

The Hon. A. Piccolo: Why didn't you say so?

The SPEAKER: The member for Light is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: What does the current system in South Australia look like? It is characterised by having, at 8 per cent, the lowest patronage in the mainland across Australia. It has, at 3 per cent, the lowest level of integration of services in the nation.

Mr Hughes interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Giles is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: It is an antiquated and old-fashioned system that does not deliver the modern digital platforms that customers expect and experience interstate. Lastly, what it doesn't do—and the reason that we know this is because we as a government—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —have actually been open enough and transparent enough to actually ask our customers what they think of the service, and the report card ain't good. Half of the customers tell us—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —that they don't believe that the service delivers value for money. When half your customers say that the service doesn't deliver value for money at a time when our fare structure is amongst the cheapest in the nation, you know you are doing something wrong.

What is interesting is that the decision that people are choosing to make in Adelaide to drive their car instead of get on public transport is actually not one about cost, because catching the bus, train or tram is actually currently cheaper than it would be to drive in almost all circumstances. The reason that people are choosing not to make that decision—

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Light is on two warnings.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —is because the system does not deliver the service they asked for. It doesn't deliver the reliability, it doesn't deliver the frequency of service and it doesn't deal with overcrowding—the three things that our customers told us they want.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: We have taken a huge number of steps since the election to improve our public transport system.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister, be seated for one moment, please. The minister has the call.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. We employed a chief executive who has had experience running the biggest public transport system in the country, as well as working with private operators across Australia. We have set up a public transport authority with a single focus. We have set up an advisory committee with international expertise. We have put out to tender our bus contracts so that we can use those contracts to deliver better services for South Australia.

Mr Malinauskas: $46 million in cuts.

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: I can tell you that the early results are in. The early results are that in the 2018-19 year, as outlined in our budget, we saw a 1.6 million passenger increase in the number of people using our service and a huge increase to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Hurtle Vale!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —over 53 million service kilometres delivered. We have already taken the first small steps forward in improving our system and for South Australians there is much more to come.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Light is now on two warnings, as is the member for Wright. I warn the member for Lee. I call to order the members for Kaurna and Hurtle Vale and I call to order the member for Hammond. The Leader of the Opposition.