COMMUNITY PASSENGER NETWORKS

The Hon. C.V. SCHAEFER (16:22): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Transport a question about community passenger networks.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C.V. SCHAEFER: I understand that a recent local government conference passed a resolution seeking information from the government with regard to community passenger networks and seeking to lobby the state government to redress current and proposed financial assistance arrangements for community passenger networks.

Community passenger transport networks have operated throughout regional South Australia for a number of years. The original funding was set at $50,000 per scheme per year with a proportion of that—I think about a third—coming from the state government, a third from the federal government, and a third from community groups such as the local Red Cross, local government, and others. The transport is driven by volunteers who are not able to charge fares and who are no longer able to take direct donations from the users of the scheme. It is used mostly in the more remote areas, but also in some of the regional areas. Now it is almost exclusively used for medical purposes. Towns provide a car or a small bus and transport people to the nearest regional area where they can receive specialist medical treatment.

Given the new Country Health Care Plan, there will be a greater rather than a lesser need for these networks to operate, and the $50,000 is for the administration of those networks. This funding has not been indexed and has not been increased over a number of years.

What is more concerning to regional local government and the people who live there is a consistent rumour that all financial assistance for this scheme will cease. My question to the minister is: can she inform the council as to the funding and operational status of the CPNs throughout South Australia?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (16:25): I thank the honourable member for her important question. I will refer it on to my colleague in another place and bring back a response.