Shadow Minister Ripper questions Minister Buswell on whether a train fault is due to the government's failure to order new railcars. Buswell deflects, blaming the previous Labor government for not ordering them when they were in power.

AnsweredQoN 229Legislative Assembly
Asked
13 April 2011
Portfolio
Transport

QuestionView source ↗

PUBLIC TRANSPORT AUTHORITY — TRAIN FAULTS
As a supplementary question: is not keeping an unsafe train in service another negative outcome of the minister’s failure to order the 30 new railcars that the system so desperately needs? Mr T.R. BUSWELL

AnswerView source ↗

I have absolutely no reason to believe that an incident on an in-service train today is in any way, shape or form related to the delivery of a train in two and a half years. If my car’s battery went flat in Roleystone last week, would that be because I did not order a new car to be delivered in two years’ time? Absolutely not. If there are issues in the rail system today, they would have been addressed if the Leader of the Opposition had ordered more railcars when he was in government! Maybe the reason the brakes failed is that the former Treasurer was too tight. Maybe that is the reason the brakes failed. I will make sure that what the Leader of the Opposition says is factual because often that is not the case. Do I accept that the delivery of a railcar in two and a half years would have prevented an incident with a railcar today? Mr E.S. Ripper : That is the result of an order made two and a half years ago. Now is when the delivery would have occurred if you had made the order on time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : If I had made the order on time, it would have taken two and a half years. Maybe the Leader of the Opposition should have ordered them when he was the Treasurer. Why did he not order them? Mr E.S. Ripper : We promised to. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Great news! I can see people up and down the train lines dancing in the streets. Mr E.S. Ripper : If we were elected, the trains would be here, but you were elected and they are not. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I can hear people rushing out the doors to dance in the streets to celebrate the fact that the former government promised to order them. That is great news. The Labor Party promised to order them but did not do it. The former Treasurer had his hand on the chequebook for all those years but he did not open it. The short answer is that I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem — Mr E.S. Ripper : It is an actual problem that a driver complained about. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: I have absolutely no reason to believe that an incident on an in-service train today is in any way, shape or form related to the delivery of a train in two and a half years. If my car’s battery went flat in Roleystone last week, would that be because I did not order a new car to be delivered in two years’ time? Absolutely not. If there are issues in the rail system today, they would have been addressed if the Leader of the Opposition had ordered more railcars when he was in government! Maybe the reason the brakes failed is that the former Treasurer was too tight. Maybe that is the reason the brakes failed. I will make sure that what the Leader of the Opposition says is factual because often that is not the case. Do I accept that the delivery of a railcar in two and a half years would have prevented an incident with a railcar today? Mr E.S. Ripper : That is the result of an order made two and a half years ago. Now is when the delivery would have occurred if you had made the order on time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : If I had made the order on time, it would have taken two and a half years. Maybe the Leader of the Opposition should have ordered them when he was the Treasurer. Why did he not order them? Mr E.S. Ripper : We promised to. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Great news! I can see people up and down the train lines dancing in the streets. Mr E.S. Ripper : If we were elected, the trains would be here, but you were elected and they are not. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I can hear people rushing out the doors to dance in the streets to celebrate the fact that the former government promised to order them. That is great news. The Labor Party promised to order them but did not do it. The former Treasurer had his hand on the chequebook for all those years but he did not open it. The short answer is that I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem — Mr E.S. Ripper : It is an actual problem that a driver complained about. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.
I have absolutely no reason to believe that an incident on an in-service train today is in any way, shape or form related to the delivery of a train in two and a half years. If my car’s battery went flat in Roleystone last week, would that be because I did not order a new car to be delivered in two years’ time? Absolutely not. If there are issues in the rail system today, they would have been addressed if the Leader of the Opposition had ordered more railcars when he was in government! Maybe the reason the brakes failed is that the former Treasurer was too tight. Maybe that is the reason the brakes failed. I will make sure that what the Leader of the Opposition says is factual because often that is not the case. Do I accept that the delivery of a railcar in two and a half years would have prevented an incident with a railcar today? Mr E.S. Ripper : That is the result of an order made two and a half years ago. Now is when the delivery would have occurred if you had made the order on time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : If I had made the order on time, it would have taken two and a half years. Maybe the Leader of the Opposition should have ordered them when he was the Treasurer. Why did he not order them? Mr E.S. Ripper : We promised to. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Great news! I can see people up and down the train lines dancing in the streets. Mr E.S. Ripper : If we were elected, the trains would be here, but you were elected and they are not. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I can hear people rushing out the doors to dance in the streets to celebrate the fact that the former government promised to order them. That is great news. The Labor Party promised to order them but did not do it. The former Treasurer had his hand on the chequebook for all those years but he did not open it. The short answer is that I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem — Mr E.S. Ripper : It is an actual problem that a driver complained about. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.
Mr E.S. Ripper : That is the result of an order made two and a half years ago. Now is when the delivery would have occurred if you had made the order on time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : If I had made the order on time, it would have taken two and a half years. Maybe the Leader of the Opposition should have ordered them when he was the Treasurer. Why did he not order them? Mr E.S. Ripper : We promised to. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Great news! I can see people up and down the train lines dancing in the streets. Mr E.S. Ripper : If we were elected, the trains would be here, but you were elected and they are not. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I can hear people rushing out the doors to dance in the streets to celebrate the fact that the former government promised to order them. That is great news. The Labor Party promised to order them but did not do it. The former Treasurer had his hand on the chequebook for all those years but he did not open it. The short answer is that I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem — Mr E.S. Ripper : It is an actual problem that a driver complained about. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : If I had made the order on time, it would have taken two and a half years. Maybe the Leader of the Opposition should have ordered them when he was the Treasurer. Why did he not order them? Mr E.S. Ripper : We promised to. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Great news! I can see people up and down the train lines dancing in the streets. Mr E.S. Ripper : If we were elected, the trains would be here, but you were elected and they are not. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I can hear people rushing out the doors to dance in the streets to celebrate the fact that the former government promised to order them. That is great news. The Labor Party promised to order them but did not do it. The former Treasurer had his hand on the chequebook for all those years but he did not open it. The short answer is that I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem — Mr E.S. Ripper : It is an actual problem that a driver complained about. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.
Mr E.S. Ripper : We promised to. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Great news! I can see people up and down the train lines dancing in the streets. Mr E.S. Ripper : If we were elected, the trains would be here, but you were elected and they are not. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I can hear people rushing out the doors to dance in the streets to celebrate the fact that the former government promised to order them. That is great news. The Labor Party promised to order them but did not do it. The former Treasurer had his hand on the chequebook for all those years but he did not open it. The short answer is that I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem — Mr E.S. Ripper : It is an actual problem that a driver complained about. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Great news! I can see people up and down the train lines dancing in the streets. Mr E.S. Ripper : If we were elected, the trains would be here, but you were elected and they are not. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I can hear people rushing out the doors to dance in the streets to celebrate the fact that the former government promised to order them. That is great news. The Labor Party promised to order them but did not do it. The former Treasurer had his hand on the chequebook for all those years but he did not open it. The short answer is that I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem — Mr E.S. Ripper : It is an actual problem that a driver complained about. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.
Mr E.S. Ripper : If we were elected, the trains would be here, but you were elected and they are not. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I can hear people rushing out the doors to dance in the streets to celebrate the fact that the former government promised to order them. That is great news. The Labor Party promised to order them but did not do it. The former Treasurer had his hand on the chequebook for all those years but he did not open it. The short answer is that I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem — Mr E.S. Ripper : It is an actual problem that a driver complained about. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I can hear people rushing out the doors to dance in the streets to celebrate the fact that the former government promised to order them. That is great news. The Labor Party promised to order them but did not do it. The former Treasurer had his hand on the chequebook for all those years but he did not open it. The short answer is that I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem — Mr E.S. Ripper : It is an actual problem that a driver complained about. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.
Mr E.S. Ripper : It is an actual problem that a driver complained about. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : So the Leader of the Opposition asserts. I do not believe that a potential maintenance problem with a train today would have been resolved in any way, shape or form by the delivery of another train two and a half years later.

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