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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-07-01 Daily Xml
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Public Transport

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:37): A supplementary.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Before we have the supplementary and before I decide whether to accept the 'pretty please with a cherry on top', I call to order the members for Chaffey, Adelaide, Unley, Hammond and the deputy leader. A supplementary, the leader.

Mr MARSHALL: My supplementary is to the Treasurer, who has outlined to the house the public transport renewal program that the government has underway at the moment. Can he perhaps update the house on how many people are actually using public transport in South Australia now compared to two years ago?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:37): Obviously the transport minister will have more information on it. Again, this goes to show you how cynical the Leader of the Opposition is. He knows—

Mr PISONI: A point of order, sir. In the minister's opening statement he said he was not going to answer the question and now he is entering debate.

The SPEAKER: No, I don't think he is, and accordingly I warn the member for Unley for the first time for a bogus point of order. Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Anyone living in the southern suburbs of Adelaide would have seen the immense undertaking in electrifying our rail. We had one of our most patronised services down while we were upgrading it. People turned to alternative forms of transport to get to and from work and, alas, a lot of people got into their cars while we were upgrading our Seaford line and extending it out from Noarlunga to Seaford.

Those are now changing; that is now changing. What the opposition is doing is pointing to a time where there has been unprecedented investment in public infrastructure while those services are down and then say, 'See, it's not working.' Well, what they should be doing is comparing the next set—

Mr Marshall: We will! We will!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: And I look forward to it—but also since 2002 (and the transport minister will have more to say about this) no government in this state's history has invested as much in public transport as we have in buses, trams, trains—unprecedented levels of investment. Every single time we attempted to invest in public transport or that infrastructure, we had members opposite complaining. All they did was attack it. When we invested in trams, they said it was a waste of money. When we invested in electrifying our rail, they said it was a waste of money. Whenever we invest in infrastructure, to quote the Leader of the Opposition, he says, ‘false economy’.

I have to say that when a government’s record is spending on infrastructure and improving public transport services and then you attempt to critique the government during the period when those services are down while you are upgrading them, it is obviously not going to give you an accurate representation of what is going on, but that is what the Leader of the Opposition attempts to do. He cannot be honest about it. He cannot bring himself to be honest about it. Our investment in public transport is working and the transport development levy will improve that.

Mr MARSHALL: I ask the Treasurer to withdraw that remark.

The SPEAKER: I do not think the Treasurer actually made an imputation that—

Mr MARSHALL: He said the leader cannot be honest about this matter.

The SPEAKER: Did the Treasurer say—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: For the benefit of the house, I will withdraw.

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: He cannot bring himself to accept; how is that?

Mr MARSHALL: Further supplementary, sir.

The Hon. P. Caica: That’s four.

The SPEAKER: That would be four supplementaries; the member for Colton is correct. How about just asking a question?

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