Bus Services

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:42): My question is to the Premier. Why does the Premier believe the people of Aberfoyle Park no longer need a direct bus service to the city?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:42): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question.

Ms Cook interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hurtle Vale!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: What's being proposed here is actually something that's going to significantly improve journey times from Aberfoyle Park, in the southern suburbs, right through to the city.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: The opportunity to be able to interchange with the new Flinders Link train station, a $140 million project that we are delivering—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —in this four-year term of government, means that people are going to be able to save seven minutes in journey time to get themselves to the city—a seven-minute shorter journey time. For those who don't want to interchange across to a train, there is a massive opportunity for them to be able to interchange with existing buses at existing points. Whether that be the five Go Zones that are operating out of the Marion hub or the three Go Zones operating out of the Flinders hub, as well as the other connector and peak-only services, there will be a huge opportunity for people to get to town more quickly than what they can do now.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: This is all about listening to what our customers want, and that is to deliver higher frequency but also to deliver—

Ms Cook interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hurtle Vale is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —shorter journey times. Especially for people of the outer suburbs, the ability to have a more direct route, and a quicker route, to get into town is a key consideration about whether or not people choose to use a service. The opportunity here to be able to get to town seven minutes faster than you do now, over a 50 or 60-minute journey, is a massive step forward that's going to encourage more people to use the service.