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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-02-04 Daily Xml
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Hybrid Buses

Mrs POWER (Elder) (14:33): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Can the minister update the house on the new state-of-the-art hybrid buses that are currently being rolled out across metropolitan Adelaide and how they are delivering a better service?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:34): I thank the member for Elder for her very keen interest in public transport. As always, it is a great pleasure to speak about the Marshall government's commitment to better services in South Australia for the people of our fantastic state. As you know, the Marshall government is very keen to deliver economic growth and more jobs, and today we neatly combine the two.

Recently, we launched the first two of seven new hybrid state-of-the-art buses. It was very exciting to be down there at the depot seeing these buses roll out. They have been so warmly welcomed into the community as well. It is an exciting announcement and one that I am very happy to speak more about in the house. It goes to the heart of what this government is doing: better services, economic growth, a clean and greener environment, and jobs for South Australians—that's what is key.

Of course, in December, the Minister for Environment and Water launched the South Australian government's Climate Change Action Plan 2021-25, which identified transport as being one of the largest direct sources of emissions. Well-known climate economist Ross Garnaut has commended our approach and highlighted the opportunities for South Australia to lower its emissions and do that through public transport and other forms of mobility.

The government is moving in that direction, in the right direction, delivering the Gawler line electrification, of course, a project those opposite shelved, talked about, did not do—we are delivering, and that will play a big role in doing that. That will deliver us a cleaner future and that will deliver better services for the people of the north, people ignored by those opposite. Likewise, these hybrid diesel buses will do exactly that. The green innovation is the way that they provide the power source. It's a combination of the diesel engines and the electric engines and it delivers a wonderful outcome.

The anticipated fuel consumption is some 15 per cent lower, which is far better for our environment. In electric mode, when they are pulled up at the bus stops and at the traffic lights, they flick into electric mode and there are less exhaust fumes for when people are waiting to get on the buses. They can then flick into diesel mode and whilst in diesel mode they recharge the electric engines. It's a win for commuters, a win for the community and a win for the environment.

One of these buses has been fitted out to run on the O-Bahn in the north-east, and I know the member for King and the member for Newland are very excited by that. When you see the livery of these buses, they have the green roof canopy on them and, if you can believe it, people have been out spotting these buses, taking photos, and people who enjoy their public transport have been very excited by this.

More importantly, these buses are being put together here in South Australia. Scania, which won the contract, are delivering some 340 new buses and with that come 100 new local jobs. To keep the member for Unley happy as well, Precision has also created an apprenticeship academy, and around 40 new jobs are the result of that bus supply contract. That is absolutely fantastic—developing skills, enhancing our capabilities and growing our economy.

This is a really exciting time. As we have mentioned, 340 buses are coming online. One of these new hybrid buses was in fact the 100th delivered by Precision Buses, so we are very happy to see that happen. Of course, they are all DDA compliant, which means that they have the driver security screens, duress alarms, CCTV and fire suppression systems as well—again, delivering better services for the people of South Australia.

We know that more people used public transport 10 years ago than when Labor left office. We know that we are very focused on delivering public transport the people of South Australia will love, appreciate and also what we know is that we are delivering jobs in the process and growing the economy here in South Australia.

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