Public Transport Services

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-97924

Hansard session: Fifty-Sixth Parliament, First Session (56-1)

Public Transport Services

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (15:09:01):

My question is addressed to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. How is the Government's record investment in transport delivering more and better services to customers?

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE (BegaMinister for Transport and Infrastructure) (15:10:16):

— Hooray for Coure! That is how you ask a question. It is much better than the questions from the commos opposite. The Soviets are in, busily wanting to nationalise the State's bus network. What a great question.

The SPEAKER:

Order! Members will come to order. The member for Cessnock will come to order. I remind the member for Bankstown that she is already on three calls to order.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

As I was saying, it is great to be delivering 19,000 additional weekly transport services across New South Wales. In the past year alone, there were 3,000 extra bus services and 300 extra train services. As the Parliamentary Secretary knows, we are also delivering incredible station upgrades in places such as his electorate of Oatley, in Heathcote and at Museum and Flemington—a whole raft of places.

The SPEAKER:

Order! There is too much audible conversation in the Chamber.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

I am very happy to inform the House today that we are also investing in services in a great place like the Blue Mountains.

The SPEAKER:

Order! The member for Blue Mountains will cease interjecting. I call the member for Blue Mountains to order for the first time.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

Despite the efforts of the member for Blue Mountains to trash public transport, we are going to deliver additional express services to her electorate. There will be 24 brand-new express services to her electorate—dedicated eight-car train services, particularly to service tourism.

The SPEAKER:

Order! I call the member for Blue Mountains to order for the second time. I call the member for Londonderry to order for the first time.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

I also acknowledge the great member for Bathurst, who is getting an additional service. I thank him and Shayne Mallard in the other place, who lives in the Blue Mountains, for their constructive advocacy for more services to the Blue Mountains. They have shown how to do it—no whingeing, no complaining, just getting on with the job and advocating well. Very pleasingly, we now have 25,000 additional seats servicing the people of the Blue Mountains, with approximately 18,000 of those additional seats on the weekends. That is great news for the people of the Blue Mountains.

The SPEAKER:

Order! Members will cease interjecting. I call the member for Blue Mountains to order for the third time. She will cease interjecting.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

This is all part of our $1.5 billion more trains, more services program. We have already started to roll it out. We have been announcing additional express services from places such as Parramatta, which is represented by another great advocate, and Campbelltown, where there is not such a great advocate.

Interruption

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Go back to pulling out the weeds, mate. There are also additional services to the airport. This Government is building light rail. Is that not tremendous for the member for Parramatta, and of course for the people of the eastern suburbs? All those lovely students at the University of New South Wales are also going to get a new light rail service. I note the member for Strathfield—who is a very special member of this place—decided to call a press conference the other night to demand extra public transport services to the university. The only problem was that she was standing outside a construction site for the light rail project. There she was asking for more public transport. Turn around Jodie, there it is, tomorrow's Sydney. We are building it.

The SPEAKER:

Order! I call the member for Londonderry to order for the second time. I call the member for Londonderry to order for the third time.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

What particularly amused me were the great words that the good member used. She described the light rail project as a "vanity project". Of all members to use the word "vanity". We will get on with the job of building the transport system. This is a great program: 19,000 additional trains and bus and ferry services for the good people of this great State. I will have more to say in due course about the Rail, Tram and Bus Union and Luke Foley.