Bus Services

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:06): Supplementary: will the Premier listen to the feedback regarding his bus cuts in the same way he has listened to feedback on the privatisation of the train and tram network?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:06): What I'm interested in is whether the Leader of the Opposition will listen to the people of South Australia and back plans to be introduced into the parliament regarding the bill to look at local government reform in South Australia. Is he going to listen to the people—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —of South Australia with regard to shop trading hours? These are issues that all South Australians—

The SPEAKER: Could the Premier be seated for one moment. There is a point of order. I will hear the point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: debate, sir.

The SPEAKER: When the Premier begins to talk about issues like council rates, perhaps he is starting to deviate. The question was about whether he would listen. I will listen to some relevant preamble, but then I expect him to come back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The question was about whether or not we were listening to the people of South Australia. I was just creating a contrast to whether the Leader of the Opposition was listening, but I will leave that—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —because they seem very sensitive today. The reality is that of course we are listening to the people of South Australia.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Of course we are listening to the people of South Australia, whether it comes to shop trading hours—

Mr Picton: They don't want it privatised.

The SPEAKER: Member for Kaurna!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —whether it comes to council rate capping or whether it comes to improving public transport outcomes in South Australia. One of the principal things that people have been talking about for a long period of time is the Gawler line electrification. Yes, it was an expensive project. Of course, it was a lot more expensive—

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: the Premier is continuing to debate the question and not answer the substance of it.

The SPEAKER: I respectfully don't uphold that point of order, but I am listening attentively. I will hear the Premier.

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: It's a bogus point of order.

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The people of South Australia want improvements to public transport in South Australia. We are listening to that feedback.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Not only are we listening to the feedback—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —we are actively seeking that feedback, and there is an opportunity for people to provide feedback—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: I thought you said it was based on feedback.

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —through to 31 July. Moreover, we went proactively out to the people of South Australia and said, 'What do you want?' More frequent services was the number one thing. Also—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —I commend the minister responsible for this portfolio—

Dr Close interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Deputy Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —who went out and looked at what was happening in terms of best practice worldwide. There are currently pilots underway in South Australia that are right at the cutting edge of delivering improved services for people—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —who don't have access to frequent, timely services—

The Hon. Z.L. Bettison interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Ramsay!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —on their journey. I know those opposite are experts when it comes to public transport. Their record is there for all to see and for all to scrutinise. We can see the level of people's patronage on public transport. They didn't address some of these new ideas around integrating with technology. They didn't invest in the electrification of the Gawler line, like they promised, or the Outer Harbor electrification, like they promised, or the Grange line electrification, like they promised. They made a lot of promises. They had 16 years. The results are there for us all to see. We are listening to the people of South Australia. They want improved—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —public transport, and that's a combination in terms of investment into the physical infrastructure that we have to support public transport in South Australia, for example, the Flinders Link investment that we are making. What an excellent investment that has been made on behalf of the people of South Australia. I know that the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Colin Stirling, was a strong advocate for being able to bring people from the centre of the city down onto the redeveloped Flinders University campus. I think that journey is 16 minutes. This opens up a world of opportunity once that is achieved. We are very pleased to have a very significant amount of money in the budget for that—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —the Gawler line electrification and adopting best practice in terms of getting people on frequent services as soon as possible.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: If this level of interjecting continues, members will be leaving the chamber shortly. The leader has the call.