House of Assembly: Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Contents

Point to Point Transport

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (14:56): My question is again to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Can the minister confirm that the $1 point to point transaction levy is not heading to general revenue or being used for any other departmental expense other than funding assistance for taxidrivers?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:56): All of our revenue that we raise goes to good uses—all of it—whether it's health and education, whether it's mobility, whether it's access cabs. Remember this: public transport is heavily subsidised. It's not fully cost recovered. It's not fully cost recovered. We use a dramatic amount of subsidy to make sure that our buses are available and operating. I will get a more detailed answer for the member, but the truth is we don't raise enough money through our ticketing systems to manage our system. We run those at high subsidy. What we haven't done is what the previous government did in an attempt to close 500 bus stops.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: And actually, on further analysis, it was a thousand. We were told it was 500; it was actually a thousand bus stops. Every precious dollar we raise from the public is spread across government in a way that is put to its best possible use.