Public and Active Transport

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (14:49): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport on the topic of public and active transport.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: In February 2023, the Select Committee on Public and Active Transport handed down its report—more than two years ago. The committee heard numerous submissions that expressed concern about the decline in services of public transport in metropolitan areas and the lack of public transport in regional areas. It also heard the community felt the state government prioritised car travel over other modes of transport and that state investment was biased towards building more roads.

The committee made numerous recommendations for the state government to improve public and active transport, including increasing the frequency of bus services, commencing planning for a statewide integrated separating cycling network and trialling passenger rail services from Mount Barker to Adelaide. My questions, therefore, to the minister are:

1. Has the minister read the report of the Select Committee on Public and Active Transport?

2. What action has the government taken in relation to the recommendations to date and which recommendations does she hope to still implement?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Autism) (14:50): I thank the honourable member for his question and all the work he has undertaken through the select committee that he chaired. Obviously, there were a number of recommendations put forward and I have had the great pleasure of reading them. I might have predicted this would be a question.

Obviously, as a government we have been investing heavily in this space. It is a really big privilege to take on a role where we know that we are already investing record levels in construction, particularly in transport construction. My understanding is that this is not just about the amount of money as a government we are investing: the Master Builders Association themselves back in this data that we are building more than ever before in transport construction.

My understanding through the Master Builders Association data is that this shows that transport construction is up 28 per cent year on year. This is an incredible achievement and is data that clearly shows we are doing more in this space because we know it is important to keep people connected and to keep people moving.

We know a number of things have been highlighted in your recommendations, things like active transport. Recently, since I have become the minister, I was able to be part of an announcement where we were able to roll out dedicated funding that has been made available through a $2 million fund that is available for people to have bike lanes and bicycle projects that keep people moving and connected. There were 18 projects that were rolled out across nine councils.

As you have highlighted throughout your consultation and feedback, it is important to have this not just in metropolitan Adelaide but in regional Adelaide. There were quite a number of regional areas that were able to benefit from those. From memory, I think, Mount Gambier was one of those and I recall Victor Harbor and the Barossa were also, I believe. This is a program to make sure we can get that funding where it is needed, particularly in places that maybe we have not looked at before with those needs for bike tracks.

In regard to the cheaper fares, again it was raised about having more accessible support for people to access fares that are cheaper. As we highlighted yesterday, we have done targeted fares that support those who need it and have lower incomes generally, such as our seniors and also our students who are receiving fares the equivalent of 25¢. Our seniors are receiving free access to public transport.

But we also know that we have to be doing infrastructure investments as well and that is also what we are doing and that data from the Master Builders Association backs that in. It is not just about a government saying we are doing something: the Masters Builders Association data is backing in that we are.