Keolis Downer

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:22): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Does the minister stand by his remarks he just gave to the house that the former government awarded a contract to Keolis Downer?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:23): Again, I think the member needs to listen to what I said. The fact is that a contract was assigned to Keolis Downer in 2015, and that happened when the company that was formerly running those services handed over the contract. That is something that I have corrected the record on in the house before, but it is just something that those opposite don't like to hear about.

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: So, they can be trusted to run a significant portion of Adelaide's metropolitan bus network—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —but undertaking a six-month time-limited trial in two small areas of our state isn't okay. It's okay to run hundreds and hundreds of services each day—

The Hon. C.L. Wingard interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Police is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —but it's not okay to run a couple of little trials for six months. I think that the South Australian people and the communities of Mount Barker and the Barossa are the ones who are going to decide on this. They are our guinea pigs in this process. They are the ones who are going to test this new way of delivering services.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Instead of having now to wait for sometimes over an hour for a fixed-route service, instead of having to walk potentially hundreds and hundreds of metres to get to a bus stop, we will actually now be trialling a service that will pick up somebody from their house, or near to their house, and drop them where they need to go. That is a fantastic step forward and again a way that we are looking at new technology to deliver better services in public transport, something that lay stagnant for a long period of time.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: I would also like to provide other information to the house, and that is that another measure that we can use for how our customers rate our service is the level of complaints they make to the department. Any business that operates in a retail environment receives complaints—

Mr Picton interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Kaurna, you can leave for the remainder of question time under 137A.

The honourable member for Kaurna having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: Thank you. The minister has the call.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Again, let's look at the last financial year. What do the results tell us—not cherrypicked results but annual, year-on-year results? Complaints were actually down 7½ per cent in the 2018-19 financial year compared with the financial year beforehand—a 7½ per cent reduction—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —so less complaints, more bums on seats, trialling new technology, improving the frequency of train services—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —investing almost $1 billion in improving our network from the Gawler line electrification, to the Flinders Link extension, to the Tonsley train station upgrade, to the park-and-ride at Paradise, Mr Speaker, which I know you have been hassling me about every single day—

The SPEAKER: Indeed.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —as well as looking at the park-and-ride at Golden Grove. This government is investing in improving our public transport network. But what we won't do is be cowed by those naysayers who just want to oppose everything and for any bit of positive news try to find the negative spin. I do remember calls of not wanting to lead a destructive-style opposition, wanting to lead a constructive-style opposition. Well, I think that's just gone by the wayside. It's all too hard. It's much easier just to poke a stick at the one trying to get something done and much easier just to carp from the sidelines. We as a government are delivering better services, and we've got the record to show it.

The SPEAKER: I am glad the minister has completed his answer. He started to deviate then. Member for King and then the member for West Torrens.