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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-07-03 Daily Xml
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Public Transport Privatisation

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (14:08): My question is to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government. Can the minister update the house on the effect of patronage following outsourcing of public transport in other jurisdictions?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is called to order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:08): I didn't realise that question should have come with a trigger warning. It has been an interesting couple of days dealing with the piles and piles of bunkum that have piled up all around the place, especially on the other side of the chamber—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader, order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —in relation to our decision to outsource the operation of train and tram services. The hypocrisy knows absolutely no bounds when it comes to this story. Can I say that outsourcing is a model that has been tried and tested right across the globe.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Interestingly, there have been some models of privatisation, like that which characterised the London Underground which didn't work, and I would agree with that except to say that there has been commentary made—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —in the last couple of days that the reason that you can't bring bus services back in-house after having been—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: the question was about patronage and other jurisdictions. He is now debating it.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I have the point of order, and I ask members on my left to cease interjecting, because I am struggling to hear the answer, so stop, or members will be departing the chamber. Minister, could you please stick to the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: There has been an argument put that you can't unscramble the egg in public transport as a reason why we cannot bring back into house the bus contracts here in South Australia. What has been pointed to is where somebody believes that they have unscrambled the egg. You can't have it both ways: you can't say that you can't unscramble the egg and then point to a jurisdiction that did what we are not seeking to do.

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order, minister.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The government question to the minister was about patronage and other jurisdictions. The minister is now debating the question.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. I am listening to it, and I am ready to pounce if I need to, but I am listening to the answer.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. But the reason that jurisdictions right across the globe haven't unscrambled the egg—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —is because the egg has been softly and gently fried and it is beautiful to eat. We see that in jurisdictions—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: So in Adelaide, after—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —the buses were outsourced—

Mr Szakacs interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Cheltenham is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —we saw a seven-million passenger per annum increase in the number of people using the bus services; in Melbourne, the example that some people have suggested hasn't worked, a 110-million passenger per year increase after outsourcing—110 million passengers; across in Perth, when the buses were contracted out, a 37-million passenger increase per annum in growth; and in Auckland, over across the ditch, an 18.2-million passenger per annum increase after those rail services were outsourced. These are examples after examples after examples that show that this is a tried and tested method that works. There are some—

Mr Boyer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —in the labour movement who are trying to suggest that the way that Melbourne's public transport system works doesn't deliver the best services for passengers. Well, I think that 110 million extra people cannot be wrong, but more than that, maybe some in the labour movement need to speak to others in the Victorian labour movement who do suggest that customer satisfaction survey on trains is at a 22-year high as of November last year.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: So there are more bums on seats, there is higher satisfaction—

Mr Picton: Not as high as here.

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —yet there are those who suggest that the system is not working. We are proud to be doing this on behalf of the people of South Australia. We know that it is a model that works. We are able to take and learn from the global examples of the last 20 to 30 years to make sure that we deliver the right solution here in South Australia. The proof will be in the pudding, and the South Australians who choose to use this service after the outsourcing know that it's going to be better because we can drive efficiency to deliver better services.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Sack people.

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is warned.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: That will be the test by which we will be measured and not some fake debate by those members who privatised anything that could move over their 16 years in power. South Australians can get the difference.

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition has the call.

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is called to order. The leader.

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