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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) (14:41): This question follows on directly from the previous question. The Treasurer has made it very clear to the house that the upgrade to the Seaford line has been what has driven down the numbers. If we exclude the Seaford line and look at the rest of public transport in South Australia, can you update the house on the actual usage of those non-Seaford line public transport routes in South Australia?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Before the Treasurer answers, the member for Heysen has been interjecting repeatedly, but because she has been making a perfectly valid grammatical point about number versus amount I am not going to warn her. Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:41): I think it is fair to say that the Leader of the Opposition is unfairly claiming that the only upgrade that we have made is to the Noarlunga line and the extension of Noarlunga to Seaford. The reality is that our dedicated bus lanes, the infrastructure money we have been spending on our trams, the new upgrades to the railway stations—

The Hon. J.J. Snelling: The park-and-rides.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —the park-and-rides we are building, the upgrade to the O-Bahn, the re-sleepering of the Outer Harbor line, the Noarlunga line and, of course, the Gawler line, have all seen disruptions in public transport. Those new stations and that upgrade work—while those works have been undertaken—have driven people away.

I suppose it is like upgrading a school. If we closed classes and moved those students to another school while we did the upgrade, the Leader of the Opposition would walk in and say that enrolments in that particular school are down, therefore the government has failed, rather than actually understanding that we are investing in the school, we are building new classrooms and we have relocated the students to another school so that we can upgrade the school. What he is attempting to do is forget all the money, the investments and works we have done in upgrading our public transport while trying to bring up figures while that construction period is underway. It is completely disingenuous to say so, and he knows it.

Mr Marshall: Is that your answer?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes. It is your question.

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is called to order.

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