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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-03-06 Daily Xml
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PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. M.C. Parnell:

That this council—

1. Notes—

(a) The packed public meeting on Monday night at the Blackwood High School called by the Greens to discuss alternative services for commuters on the Belair train when the train line is closed from 2013 for up to eight months;

(b) The serious concerns expressed at the meeting about the impact of the closure of the Belair line (along with the Noarlunga and Tonsley lines) on traffic congestion on southern arterial roads and the subsequent reliability of the substitute bus timetable;

(c) The range of positive alternative solutions proposed by the community, including boosting existing regular bus services along Shepherds Hill and Unley Roads, more scheduled express bus services and improved siting of the Eden Hills bus stop.

(d) The deep disappointment expressed at the meeting that the transport department had failed to adequately talk to the community first about what alternative services would work best for commuters; and

(e) That keeping the train running between Belair and Mitcham is not only technically viable, but cost comparable and delivers many benefits for commuters, and that this option, not surprisingly, remains the most popular alternative for Mitcham Hill residents.

2. Calls on the transport services minister to deliver on a range of options canvassed at the meeting, including—

(a) More scheduled express bus services in a revised timetable that is both credible and reliable;

(b) An increase in the number of scheduled existing bus services, including the G30 and 195/196 services;

(c) A review of the location of the proposed Eden Hills station substitute bus stop; and

(d) A commitment to consult better with affected commuters before, during and after the proposed rail closure.

(Continued from 28 November 2012.)

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (16:47): I rise on behalf of the government to respond to the Hon. Mark Parnell's motion. I know all would appreciate that this government has embarked on the biggest transport infrastructure spend and upgrade seen in the state. However, with major works on our rail and roads comes inconvenience for rail and road users. I am certain we all appreciate that temporary closures and alternative arrangements are an unfortunate part of seeing such upgrades. Certainly, no government enjoys upsetting or frustrating its constituency or putting them out in any way. I would like the opportunity to place on the record some brief history and then respond to the Hon. Mark Parnell's motion.

The latest stage of the overhaul to modernise Adelaide's rail network commenced on 20 January 2013 and is combining a number of projects to accelerate the upgrade and minimise inconvenience to customers. The works are being coordinated to complete major projects as safely and efficiently as possible. The following projects are being undertaken simultaneously: construction of a rail underpass at Goodwood junction, track upgrades of Adelaide's rail network and electrification of the Noarlunga to Seaford and Tonsley lines.

In relation to the Belair line, as we know it was closed in its entirety on 2 January 2013, while the Goodwood junction and Adelaide Railway Station are being upgraded. It will reopen in mid-2013. The closure will allow for the upgrading of the track between the junction of the Noarlunga and Belair lines and the city. During the closure substitute bus services are running between Belair and the city. Upgrades to signalling infrastructure are also being undertaken on the entire Belair line during the closure period, including the installation of the automatic train protection system. The option of maintaining a railcar shuttle service between Mitcham and Belair has been investigated but discounted on several grounds, and I will comment on that later.

During his contribution, the honourable member commented that rail closures disproportionately affect rail commuters with disabilities and also commuters with bicycles, so I would like to provide the following information for members. Due to the size and nature of the closure and the scale of bus substitute services required across the network, a separate fleet of age-exempt buses has been employed to supplement the regular Adelaide Metro fleet. These have been granted an age extension under the Passenger Transport Act 1994.

In addition to these buses, coaches are also being used to transport passengers, as well as privately owned buses in Adelaide Metro livery operated by Torrens Transit. The substitute buses used on the Belair and Outer Harbor lines are operated by Torrens Transit and I am told that they are wheelchair accessible. Nonetheless, I understand that, if for some reason this is not the case, customers are encouraged to contact the rail substitute bus provider as early as possible to request that an accessible bus be provided for their rail substitute service.

I understand that it is also preferable that the substitute bus contractor be notified on a date prior to travel. If an accessible bus is not able to be provided on request to the contractor, I am advised that an access taxi will be provided at no cost to the customer. I understand that this can be the case in other ordinary travel as well. On one occasion my office had reason to contact the transport authority in relation to somebody who was temporarily disabled.

In relation to cyclists, the department has again funded a service operated by Bicycle SA that transports bikes and riders between Mitcham and Blackwood on weekdays between 3.30pm and 6.30pm and on weekdays between 10am and 4pm.

In his contribution, the honourable member also commented in relation to keeping the Belair train line operating between Belair and Mitcham during the planned 2013 shutdown. The department looked at many options to have the rail line remain open between the Mitcham and Belair stations as part of the detailed planning process.

The necessity to close the entire Belair line during this period is based on a number of operational factors unique to the rail network. These include the lack of refuelling, inspections and required maintenance facilities, all of which require access to our purpose-built state-of-the-art maintenance facility at Dry Creek in Adelaide's north, which is physically cut off by the Goodwood closure. I am advised that even if these facilities were duplicated, should a railcar sustain damage or significant mechanical fault, there would be an inability to undertake repairs as such as the rail car would need to be left parked somewhere along the Belair line until it was somehow able to be moved to the Dry Creek depot.

I will attempt to respond to the motion of the honourable member as it calls on the government to address a number of issues. Hopefully I will not repeat information I have already placed on the record.

In relation to the honourable member's call for more scheduled express bus services and a revised timetable that is both credible and reliable, following feedback received from the community, an extra 14 specific express bus services were introduced into the timetable commencing 2 January 2013 in conjunction with the closure. These services included seven express buses during morning peak times and seven express buses from the city during afternoon peak times. These buses service Eden Hills, Coromandel Valley, Blackwood, Glenalta and Belair to stop 23, with express travel to and from stop 23 on Belair Road.

Designated bus substitute stops were also established centrally in the city along King William Street, one closer to Rundle Mall and the other one near Victoria Square, to provide closer access for passengers at the centre of the city. In addition to the published B1X express services, the Belair bus substitute timetables deliver in such a way that more than one bus is operated on each service, where appropriate, to cater for demand. In instances where one of these buses reaches capacity at any station, it will then travel express, with the following bus servicing all remaining stops along the route.

Given this arrangement, the bus substitute timetables do not necessarily provide exact times for express services to the city or to the hills on the return journey. The reason is that, from the point at which the bus travels express, drivers will travel via the most timely and effective route available. Supervisors are also maintaining regular contact with all drivers to identify the most appropriate and quickest route. Therefore, as the route may change, depending on traffic flow, the actual journey time may also alter slightly.

Prior to the implementation of the timetables, Torrens Transit conducted numerous time trails for the express services. On average an express bus from stop 23 in Belair will take approximately 30 minutes, while an express service from Eden Hills will take approximately 55 minutes. It should be also be noted that, as buses cannot travel along a dedicated corridor, they will be impacted by traffic conditions, congestions and other unforeseen circumstances, such as accidents, etc., which may impact on the driver's ability to maintain the schedule.

Detailed planning was undertaken by the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure when designing substitute bus services for Belair to ensure the most effective arrangements were implemented for passengers. Services are also being continually monitored by the department and the bus operators, including through the deployment of supervisors at all key locations to ensure services are operating effectively. Regular communication is also being maintained, with a traffic management centre to identify any potential traffic issues and optimise traffic flows where possible and appropriate.

From 17 January 2013, two additional services were implemented for the Belair bus substitute services. One extra morning service departs Eden Hills at 7.23am, while one extra afternoon service departs the city at 4.35pm to cater for demand. The department also is currently considering further service enhancements in consultation with Torrens Transit. Various other initiatives have also been implemented to facilitate passenger loadings and improve travel time from the city in the afternoon peak, including:

splitting the B1 zone on King William Street to two zones (one for Noarlunga services and the other one for Belair (B2)) to spread the number of buses and facilitate passenger loadings;

removing Belair bus services from Victoria Square and relocating this bus stop to F2 on King William Street (just north of Victoria Square) to help reduce delays; and

utilising additional buses to commence some services from B2, rather than having all services commence from stop A on King William Road. This has reduced dwell times for vehicles, spread passenger loading on buses and ensures that services depart the stops on time.

These initiatives have been successful in improving passenger loading, reducing travel time along King William Street and enabling services to depart the city on time. In relation to the honourable member calling for an increase in the number of scheduled existing bus services, including the G30 and the 195 and 196 services, the department has been monitoring the G30 and the 195/196 very closely in conjunction with Light City Buses, the operator of these services. Patronage demand is monitored regularly and on-site supervisors have also undertaken surveys to identify any potential capacity issues on these services.

The department is aware that some passengers have chosen to use regular Adelaide Metro services, and this patronage shift has not been significant and existing services are meeting this additional demand. As an added measure, Light City Buses is also ensuring that articulated vehicles are being allocated to these routes, particularly during peak times. Based on the data received and the extra measures being put in place with Light City Buses, there is currently no requirement to introduce additional vehicles or services on these routes. DPTI will, however, continue to monitor these services to ensure they continue to meet capacity during the closure period.

Concerning the call for a review of the location of the proposed Eden Hills station substitute bus stop, detailed consultation was undertaken with the Mitcham council when identifying potential bus stops for the substitute services. It should also be noted that this bus stop has been used for many years as an emergency train substitute bus stop and was also used as part of the previous closure of the Belair line.

This location provides the closest access for passengers while also taking into account manoeuvrability for buses which are attempting to provide access as close as possible to the station. This location was also chosen as the bus stop is adjacent to a park where seating is available and where, importantly for residents, it is not located directly at the front of a residential property.

In relation to a commitment to consult better with affected commuters before, during and after the proposed rail closure, the government is committed to providing timely and effective communication to all rail customers affected by the closure of railway lines for major infrastructure improvements. I can advise the chamber that to date it has:

undertaken a comprehensive media and community information campaign advising of the closure and alternative services;

distributed approximately 40,000 copies of the Adelaide Railway Station closure brochure;

hosted a survey on DPTI's Rail Revitalisation web page that drew around 800 responses from the public: 44 per cent from Noarlunga line users, 30 per cent from Belair and 13 percent each from Outer Harbor and Gawler; and

undertaken a study of around 500 rail customers three weeks before the closure, which found that 92 per cent were aware of the closure and that more than half (51 per cent) had already obtained their substitute bus timetable.

The government has enacted the following additional information campaign in the lead-up to the reopening of the Adelaide Railway Station to services in relation to advertising:

press advertising—Sunday Mail on 27 January and 3 February and in the Saturday Advertiser on 26 January;

Adelaidenow online adverts;

radio advertisements—Australian Traffic Network on all major commercial stations and

Facebook marketplace ads.

In the Adelaide Railway Station:

voice and drivers' announcements and electronic screen displays;

InfoCentre portrait, landscape and slat wall displays updated;

Adelaide Metro electronic mailing list notifications;

Adelaide Metro and DPTI websites;

alert signage at stations;

information signage at stations; and

reopening fliers handed out by drivers and passenger service assistants.

The department also encourages feedback from customers via its website, social media and customer information line and takes into consideration the feedback provided by customers when planning its services. For example, following feedback received from the community, an extra 14 specific express bus services were introduced into the timetable on the Belair line. A full community information campaign will be undertaken in the lead-up to the resumption of services on the Belair, Noarlunga and Tonsley lines.

I understand that the minister in the other place, the Hon. Chloe Fox MP, attended the forum organised by the honourable member (and the honourable member is nodding his head). As far as possible, following not just the forum but government community consultations, additional changes to the Belair line temporary closures were implemented prior to commencement of the closures. This included further refinement of a series of express services to and from stop 23 Belair and the city to further decrease travel times and provide a more train-comparable timetable. Other calls to continue to provide captive network services between Belair and Mitcham were rejected due to the overriding safety concerns, as I have already outlined.

For the stated reasons, the government cannot support the motion. I would like again to take the opportunity to remind honourable members that the modernisation of our rail network is obviously important and that no government—absolutely no government—wants to disadvantage commuters unless it is necessary and, as to be expected, for as little time as possible.

I hope that honourable members take into consideration the level of government consultation to minimise disruption to commuters and appreciate that new and improved public transport is an important responsibility of government; albeit that it needs to put contemporary plans in place whilst those upgrades are being implemented, those plans are based on sound advice to deliver safe and effective outcomes for commuters.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (17:05): On behalf of the opposition, I rise to speak to the Hon. Mark Parnell's motion. I indicate that the opposition will be supporting his motion, but I do wish to make a few comments about the rail revitalisation program, the constraints at the Adelaide Railway Station due to the Convention Centre and the lack of a transport plan. If you actually planned, Mr President, you probably could have avoided one lot of closures—on the Belair line especially.

I remind members that when I was elected in 2002, the Hon. Diana Laidlaw, who sat in this place, was transport minister. She had, just prior to the end of the Liberal government, started the resleepering of the Outer Harbor line especially, which had old wooden sleepers which had passed their use by time and the line was in bad repair. As I think many members of government have said, our rail network has not had any maintenance or upgrade for a couple of decades, and the Hon. Diana Laidlaw—the former Liberal government—had started that. It was their view at the time that you needed not to let it run right down. But following the State Bank disaster, the state had no money. There was an opportunity then to just start the works.

As we all know, if you are trying to maintain your house, you do not wait for everything to be falling to bits before you start; you keep at it a little bit at a time. But, sadly, once the current government came to power, they decided to abandon that; concrete sleepering was abandoned. The Liberal Party had started gauge convertible resleepering in a number of hotspots on that line. The reason I am highlighting that is that this whole rail revitalisation project—the resleepering project that needed to be done—could have been done incrementally over the last decade, in particular the Belair line. The Hon. Mark Parnell might know the time, but that line was completely rebuilt—

The Hon. M. Parnell: 2009.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The Hon. Mark Parnell interjects '2009'. So, 3½ years ago; thank you very much. The line was closed while that work was done, and that was about the gauge convertible concrete sleepers, although that particular line is not going to be electrified. So, there was no need to do it right then.

The thing that I think is missing in all of this is something that this government has never admitted it should have, and that is an integrated transport plan that lays out for the community what is going to happen over a 20 or 30-year period and how things can be sequenced. Mr President, you could have got away with not closing the Belair line in 2009 and waited until now, knowing that the Goodwood junction work had to be done—it has been on the drawing board for some time—and that it would remove some congestion. I do not think that anybody is critical of the project or the outcome that will deliver.

What has happened is that, because we have not had a transport plan and an overall view of what needs to be done, we are now seeing that the Belair line has had to be closed twice in three years, once for its own upgrade and now again—after all of that work has been done and lying idle—while the Goodwood junction is being done. I think that demonstrates an absolute failure by the government to have a proper transport plan, where all of this work could have been done and sequenced properly. Again, I use the comparison to your own home: you would not put a new roof on your house and then pull the roof off to do some work on the internal structures of the ceiling or the timber work; you would do it properly and in sequence—and that is what has not happened in this particular case.

Of course, then you end up with all the inconvenience the Hon. Mark Parnell talks about in his motion—the concerns for the residents of the Hills, where there are delays and inadequate services, and there are issues with disability access. There are a whole range of issues that he raised in his contribution. I do not wish to revisit them but, again, it is something that happens when you do not have a proper plan.

Of course, if you do not have a plan as the government of the day, or the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, it is something that is almost forced upon you quickly, as appears to have been the case. The consultation was short, the community was not notified, and the Hon. Carmel Zollo was trying to justify the government's consultation. But if it had been part of a plan where everybody knew, 'Well, look this is going to happen,' the community could have made adjustments and been well aware of it, and also the department would have had the time to do more adequate and thorough consultation.

I might quickly also touch on the closure at the beginning of the year that was to do with the Convention Centre extension and some work that needed to be done there. Again, it is interesting, but slightly off at a tangent, that we are spending $350 million on the Convention Centre, yet I have been advised recently that there is no money in the bid fund for the Convention Bureau to actually attract new conventions. Again, I think this is symptomatic of a government that has no overall plan anymore; they are just stumbling along from one project to another and from one issue to another.

I also remind members, of course, that the Liberal Party went to the 2006 and 2010 elections pledging to have an integrated transport plan but, as I have mentioned on a number of occasions in this place, sadly, we did not win. I remind members that, of course, the Hon. Mark Parnell's party, the Greens, did preference Labor in the seats that mattered to win in both those elections and, of course, we will support his motion today because we do feel for the people of Belair and the Mitcham Hills.

At the end of the day, had we been able to form government, we would have had a plan and these projects probably would have gone ahead, but we would have actually done it in a way that minimised the inconvenience to the community. With those few words, I indicate I support his motion.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (17:11): Once again, I will not speak for very long, but I want to place on the record my support for this motion. Unfortunately, the closure of the Belair line for eight months is one of a multitude of problems that beset public transport in Adelaide currently. Perhaps it is not surprising, since the government chooses not to have any sort of integrated transport plan.

My office has received a number of calls in recent days about the problems with our public transport, especially in relation to trying to exit the city on Friday and Saturday after Clipsal, Fringe and Festival events. We really need to do better. Frankly, it is an embarrassment, having interstate and international visitors—and, I would argue also, locals—unable to get anywhere when there are no buses, no trams, no taxis, and half the train lines are closed. However, perhaps I digress a little.

The substitute buses on the Belair line continue to cause headaches, to say the least, for many Adelaide Hills commuters, including those with extra access requirements. Traffic congestion is now a daily problem on the routes from the city into town, and I have been contacted by a commuter whose former 30-minute train ride has been turned into a one to two-hour daily bus ride, depending on traffic congestion and whether or not the bus breaks down. Surely, this is an embarrassment. So, I support this motion and commend it to the chamber.

The Hon. M. PARNELL (17:13): I would like to begin my summing up by thanking the Hon. Kelly Vincent for her support, and she clearly has her finger on the pulse of what is happening in relation to public transport at the moment. It is a woeful situation. I would also like to thank the Hon. David Ridgway for his support and also the Hon. Carmel Zollo for her contribution, which I cannot let pass without at least referring to a few things she said.

The Hon. Carmel Zollo was keen to put on the record what she sees as the government's comprehensive public engagement process. But, of course, we would not be in the position we are in had the government, in fact, engaged in a more timely manner, in a more comprehensive manner and in a more genuine manner with the people who are to be affected by these line closures. The honourable member refers to the extra 14 express buses that were, in fact, announced at the public meeting the Greens called, a meeting to which the Hon. Chloe Fox attended. I would just make the point that if the Greens had not batted on behalf of this affected community, then it is unlikely we would have seen those extra express buses.

In summing up this motion, what I would like to do is report back to the chamber some of the feedback I have had from affected commuters. I wrote to a large number of people—I think it was 100 or 200 people, many of whom had attended the public meeting I convened—last month in the following terms:

It's now a month into the substitute bus service and I'm keen to find out how it's going. We know that only about 5 per cent of former Tonsley line train passengers are using the substitute bus service. I'm keen to find out how you have responded to the shutting of the Belair line.

My impression is that the alternative services during January were slow, but reasonably reliable. However, now that we have the school traffic and a big increase in commuter car numbers the reliability has been much poorer and times have blown out even further. Leaving the city during the evening peak hour in particular has been incredibly slow.

Before parliament resumes for the year, I am keen to hear how you have responded to the closure:

How have you found the alternative bus services?

Do you use them, or have you made other commuting plans?

Do you have any suggestions for improvements?

Mr President, I certainly do not intend to put all the responses on the public record, but I will just give you a flavour of what people said to me in response to those queries.

Before I refer to the letters and the emails I will give a summary of the responses. Roughly one-quarter of respondents reported that they were driving cars instead; one-quarter of respondents had switched to other buses rather than using the official substitute bus; about a quarter did use the substitute buses and, on the whole, found them not up to scratch but were forced to continue to use those substitute buses because they had no viable alternative; and about a quarter were either satisfied with the substitute buses or a large number of them were cyclists who used the bike shuttle service that the Hon. Carmel Zollo referred to, a service first introduced back in 2009. These are some of the responses I got from Belair passengers:

I have no alternative means of transport, so have to use the substitute bus service for the Belair line. However I find that the patronage is extraordinarily low compared with the people that I regularly saw at the [Coromandel] station and on the train.

Another commuter said:

I have used the substitute buses around once a week coming from the city to Blackwood only, which is my normal use for the trains. I have found the buses to be reasonably reliable, but it is very variable as to whether they do get to their destinations on time (this is during peak time when traffic is very bad anyway). It is very bad currently and I expect will get even worse when events such as the Clipsal clog up traffic too.

Another response was:

Well the bus travel is certainly very slow. My husband caught the express bus last week too a little later than usual—just after 8am and it was a one hour 20 minute journey—it was around an hour before the children went back to school but has become much longer since then, quite understandably.

I have heard a lot of feedback that the drivers are too fast with too much braking going down the hill—a friend had to stand all the way down recently and found it very hard going. You can't blame people for trying something else rather than having just a long commute! The assertion that the bus would only take 35 minutes from Belair was always...a joke.

Another response from a person who did not use the Belair substitute but used the existing G30 service was:

The morning G30 service is working well and pretty much on time—although this is surprisingly not well patronised. I have noticed several people walking up from the direction of Eden Hills Station and catching the G30 at 'my' stop. I am wondering what will happen next week when the substitute bus is no longer free. Will more people crowd on to the G30 in order to get home quicker?

Getting out of the city in the evening is a different matter. I have discovered that the 4.45pm G30 is generally on time, but I have to leave work early and race to catch this one. However, my husband catches the next bus at 5.10pm and this one is always late. Two weeks ago he and several other passengers stood in 42º heat in King William Street for almost an hour. The 5.10pm bus eventually arrived at 5.50pm. One female passenger was so irate she refused to pay. Thursday last week—another hot day—the bus was an hour late again. I was speaking to a G30 passenger the other day and she said neither the 5.30pm nor the 6.05pm (the last bus) turned up one day and she had to get a taxi home to Blackwood. When she rang Metro the next day to complain she was told, 'You can't rely on the 6.05pm.' Not an answer!

Another response was:

The traffic into the city has increased enormously since school went back this week and the G30 takes an extra 10-15 minutes to get into the city. I also believe that the peak hour traffic in Blackwood/Belair in general is much heavier. I do know that several people I was catching the train with said they were going to drive into the city rather than use the substitute bus because (finishing work at 5pm) they couldn't get to Blackwood in time to pick up their children from day care or 'out of school care'. The penalty for being late is $5 per minute after 'closing time' at either 6 or 6.30pm.

Another passenger says:

The 7.34am 'express' service from Eden Hills this morning arrived into Adelaide at 8.45am, a comically long journey time for an express service.

They also go on to talk about another revolution, if you like, on the buses where they were considering boycotting validating their tickets because they did not think they were getting value for money. I am certainly not going to name that person because I do not want them to get into trouble, but that is how frustrated they were. Another one says:

I have been using the Belair substitute buses from Mitcham. They are usually on time but the trip down Goodwood Road is jammed and the city is jammed so on many trips it takes an hour to travel 6 kilometres! Quicker to walk. The B1 from the city is always late leaving by up to 20 minutes, so close to an hour to get back to Mitcham.

I would like to conclude with something that is a little bit more positive because I do want to be fair in terms of the responses that have been offered. This one says:

I am happy to say that I have been quite pleased with the way things have been managed to date.

That pricked my attention. I thought, 'I wonder what time they are catching the bus.' It says:

I catch the 7.04 express from Kenny Park—

which is the Eden Hills stop—

and have done from day one. Very early on, TransAdelaide decided to run this bus straight down Main Road without the need to go all the way round the Belair mulberry bush. I gather the bus that leaves Coro at the same time as us actually starts at Coro, but does go up Laffers Road. The trade-off for them is that, unlike our bus, it by-passes Blackwood station. All the express buses then go straight down Belair/Unley Road. I find even now with the schoolchildren back, this bus takes between 35-45minutes...today it arrived at Victoria Square at 7.40.

This person is obviously happy, because they are getting a very early bus before the peak hour has kicked in—at 7am. However, it is not all roses. They continue:

Coming home is a bit of a hit and miss affair, but that doesn't bother me so much. I also have to commend the bus drivers themselves.

I will leave the final comment to someone who I think has put their finger on the pulse. They say:

Perhaps [the] present chaos will be the trigger for sensible overall forward planning—working towards frequent, accessible public transport for Adelaide and its suburbs. This would reduce growing frustrations, and bring on the benefits of clean, safer transport.

I sincerely thank all those people who chose to respond to my questions and took the trouble to write to me. I have certainly been summarising all of those submissions and making sure that the Minister for Transport is made aware of them. But, for present purposes, I am glad that this motion does seem to have the confidence of the house, and I thank all those members who have indicated their support for it.

Motion carried.

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