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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-24 Daily Xml
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TRANSPORT ASSISTANCE

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (14:27): My question is to the Premier. Will he inform the house how the state government is helping pensioners and self-funded retirees?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:27): I hope that there will be bipartisan support for what I am about to announce to this parliament, but they are shaking their heads already. Last week, we heard one of their gimmicks; now you are going to see real policy in action, and you can ask a supplementary question about it if you like.

The fact is that today we have announced totally free public transport for older South Australians—275,000 of them will be eligible—in off-peak times (between 9.30am and 3pm) on buses, trams and trains in this state from 1 July during weekdays. At the weekend and on public holidays, it will be all the time. This is where the Liberal Party, obsessed with branch stacking—and we know what is going on out in the north-eastern suburbs—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —and Unley. We know what goes on. The point of the matter is that, whilst you are interested in vote stacking against each other (remember the Mayo by-election and everything else), we are interested in doing things that are right by the people of this state. So, we have made this decision now, in difficult times financially for the government and for every government in the world.

What we recognise is that elderly South Australians are doing it tough, and I would like to see an increase in the pension. It is not just pensioners but also self-funded retirees who are under real stress at the moment, so what we wanted to do was to make sure that a scheme was in place for totally free public transport in off-peak times as a way of saying 'thank you' to those who have made a contribution.

In recognition of the growing hardship being felt by pensioners and self-funded retirees, we have decided to give free public transport during off-peak periods for holders of a state Seniors Card. Free public transport on Adelaide's metropolitan trains, buses and trams from 9.30 in the morning to 3pm on weekdays, all weekend and on public holidays, will begin on 1 July this year. I hope that members opposite will write to their constituents informing them of this initiative and also inviting those who perhaps are eligible for a state Seniors Card, but do not use one, to apply. All 275,000 holders of a state Seniors Card will be eligible to access the free travel on Adelaide Metro system trams, trains and buses.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: Why can't they be happier—

The Hon. M.D. RANN: They don't look happy. The only time they are happy is when unemployment goes up, because they put their party before their state. We know that the elderly are being hit hard during this time of global economic downturn, especially self-funded retirees, whose investments are returning very little as interest rates drop and so much has been wiped off the value of shares and stocks. Unfortunately, one of the first things that happen to older people with a shortage of money is that they stop going out. This leads to isolation and often depression, which brings with it all kinds of associated problems. We want older people to keep moving, and this scheme offers a good incentive to help them do so.

We have been looking at introducing the scheme for some time, and I have no doubt that it will be welcomed by the tens of thousands of pensioners who use our public transport system every day. At present, self-funded retirees and pensioners receive on average between $300 and $870 a year in state government concessions, paid on council rates, water, sewerage, energy, emergency services levy, vehicle registration fees, driver's licence fees and so on. Concessions from the state government that directly assist South Australians, including the elderly, cost about $145 million annually.

This new scheme will cost about $10 million a year. This plan will help us to reach South Australia's Strategic Plan targets of increasing public transport use to 10 per cent of weekday passenger vehicle kilometres travelled by 2018 and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. The current 50 per cent ticket concession available to state Seniors Card holders and other concession groups for peak hour travel will be maintained. When the scheme begins on 1 July, senior South Australians will be able to receive their free public transport by showing their state Seniors Card.

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