Bus Services

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:30): My question is for the Minister for Environment and Water. Does the minister support changes to bus timetables in his electorate? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sheidow Park residents in some areas will have to walk almost two kilometres to their nearest bus stop.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:31): I do thank the member for his question.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader! I think that's enough.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: I am certainly not going to accept the purported fact that the member for West Torrens put in that question.

Mr Picton: Well, change the cuts then.

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is called to order. We have the question. I would like to hear the answer.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: For the electorate of Black, which is going to see 17 new Go Zone stops, they are also going to get under this government a brand-new on-demand bus service, one that we know—and that the member for Kavel has made many representations to me about in his electorate—that's extremely popular, one we are now rolling out across South Australia in key areas.

In the member for Black's electorate, there is going to be quite a large on-demand area, which is going to help people connect to various parts of not only of his electorate but a part of Adelaide in South Australia. It will help people connect to the Seaford train line, help people connect to be able to get to Marion and it will help people to be able to get in and around that area with a bus that is going to rock up to the door or within 150 metres of their door and drop them where they need to go within the service area. We are also rolling them out in the member for Waite's electorate.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: the question was about whether the member supported the changes, not debating the changes.

The SPEAKER: Yes, yes, and the question had several facets and I believe that the minister is perhaps speaking to things that are related to the changes. But I will listen carefully to the minister's answer, and I thank the member for West Torrens.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: In the member for Waite's electorate—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —again an on-demand service that we know is popular and works and, again, in the member for Port Adelaide's electorate, a brand-new on-demand bus system. This is just another example of how we are embracing innovation to improve our public transport system. We have seen this work in other jurisdictions. In fact, we have been able to learn lessons from the other jurisdictions about how to implement it here.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Mawson!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: And this is all part of our plan to help drive patronage and growth across our network. Mr Speaker, 220,000—

The Hon. Z.L. Bettison interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Ramsay!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —South Australians are going to now have access to a Go Zone under these changes. This is a fantastic step forward, one that we are proud to move forward and not put one of these difficult problems in the too-hard basket, the lowest levels of public transport usage in the nation, some of the cheapest public transport in the nation, as well as half of our customers thinking that they don't get value for money in this area.

More people were using buses 10 years ago than they did when Labor left office. That is not a record that we want to sit on our hands and let fester. We want to get on and tackle difficult reform like improving our bus network. It's out for consultation at the moment. I encourage everybody to look at those route maps, understand what these changes can mean for them and provide feedback to the department—

Mr Picton interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Kaurna!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —so that we can make sure that these changes are the best that they can be.