Question regarding the Mandurah railway's contribution to WA's public transport system is met with a highly partisan response from the Treasurer, focusing on attacking the opposition's record and perceived future agenda rather than directly addressing the question.

AnsweredQoN 289Legislative Assembly
Asked
18 May 2006
Portfolio
Treasurer

QuestionView source ↗

MANDURAH RAILWAY
What contribution will the debt-free Mandurah railway make to the public transport system in Western Australia? Mr E.S. RIPPER

AnswerView source ↗

We on this side of the house believe that the government should invest in a strong and fair public transport system. That is why we introduced 50c bus fares for schoolkids. That is why we did not increase concession fares by one single cent during our first term in government and that is why we keep our increases in public transport fares below the consumer price index. That is why we are building a new debt-free railway to Mandurah. How does our record compare with the record of the opposition when it was in government? We did not see one centimetre of new rail during its eight years in government. That is the opposition’s record. What did it do on the fare side? During the 1990s, the opposition increased the cost of public transport from Armadale to Perth for pensioners by 200 per cent. Now the opposition has the gall to come in here and cry crocodile tears for pensioners because pensioners do not get the benefit of 50c bus fares for school students. That is its record, but what is its agenda? The Deputy Leader of the Opposition says that the opposition’s agenda is less with less. Cutting services appears to be its new mantra. I think that public transport subsidies would be high on the list. Why do I think that? Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr E.S. RIPPER : The problem with the member for Vasse is that he adds an integrity deficit to the coalition’s record of deficits and deficit denial. I know where the Deputy Leader of the Opposition got the phrase “less with less”. He borrowed it from Governor Weld, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts. The Governor worked hand in glove with the Pioneer Institute when he developed his less with less program. Guess what the Pioneer Institute campaigned for? It campaigned for user-pays public transport. That is what less with less really means. What would that mean for public transport fares? It would mean that, on average, every public transport fare would go up by more than $4 and the average patron of public transport in Perth would pay $1 920 extra a year if the less with less, user-pays philosophy advocated by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition were adopted. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition should have the integrity to tell the people of Western Australia what the less with less agenda really means. The member for Vasse should not do what he did to the member for Kalgoorlie; he should tell the people of Western Australia what his real intentions are and be honest with Western Australians. I warn the people of Western Australia that the opposition has a new agenda: less with less. What does that agenda really mean? That agenda means service cuts and fare increases - an extra burden on the families of Western Australia.
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: We on this side of the house believe that the government should invest in a strong and fair public transport system. That is why we introduced 50c bus fares for schoolkids. That is why we did not increase concession fares by one single cent during our first term in government and that is why we keep our increases in public transport fares below the consumer price index. That is why we are building a new debt-free railway to Mandurah. How does our record compare with the record of the opposition when it was in government? We did not see one centimetre of new rail during its eight years in government. That is the opposition’s record. What did it do on the fare side? During the 1990s, the opposition increased the cost of public transport from Armadale to Perth for pensioners by 200 per cent. Now the opposition has the gall to come in here and cry crocodile tears for pensioners because pensioners do not get the benefit of 50c bus fares for school students. That is its record, but what is its agenda? The Deputy Leader of the Opposition says that the opposition’s agenda is less with less. Cutting services appears to be its new mantra. I think that public transport subsidies would be high on the list. Why do I think that? Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr E.S. RIPPER : The problem with the member for Vasse is that he adds an integrity deficit to the coalition’s record of deficits and deficit denial. I know where the Deputy Leader of the Opposition got the phrase “less with less”. He borrowed it from Governor Weld, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts. The Governor worked hand in glove with the Pioneer Institute when he developed his less with less program. Guess what the Pioneer Institute campaigned for? It campaigned for user-pays public transport. That is what less with less really means. What would that mean for public transport fares? It would mean that, on average, every public transport fare would go up by more than $4 and the average patron of public transport in Perth would pay $1 920 extra a year if the less with less, user-pays philosophy advocated by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition were adopted. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition should have the integrity to tell the people of Western Australia what the less with less agenda really means. The member for Vasse should not do what he did to the member for Kalgoorlie; he should tell the people of Western Australia what his real intentions are and be honest with Western Australians. I warn the people of Western Australia that the opposition has a new agenda: less with less. What does that agenda really mean? That agenda means service cuts and fare increases - an extra burden on the families of Western Australia.
We on this side of the house believe that the government should invest in a strong and fair public transport system. That is why we introduced 50c bus fares for schoolkids. That is why we did not increase concession fares by one single cent during our first term in government and that is why we keep our increases in public transport fares below the consumer price index. That is why we are building a new debt-free railway to Mandurah. How does our record compare with the record of the opposition when it was in government? We did not see one centimetre of new rail during its eight years in government. That is the opposition’s record. What did it do on the fare side? During the 1990s, the opposition increased the cost of public transport from Armadale to Perth for pensioners by 200 per cent. Now the opposition has the gall to come in here and cry crocodile tears for pensioners because pensioners do not get the benefit of 50c bus fares for school students. That is its record, but what is its agenda? The Deputy Leader of the Opposition says that the opposition’s agenda is less with less. Cutting services appears to be its new mantra. I think that public transport subsidies would be high on the list. Why do I think that? Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr E.S. RIPPER : The problem with the member for Vasse is that he adds an integrity deficit to the coalition’s record of deficits and deficit denial. I know where the Deputy Leader of the Opposition got the phrase “less with less”. He borrowed it from Governor Weld, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts. The Governor worked hand in glove with the Pioneer Institute when he developed his less with less program. Guess what the Pioneer Institute campaigned for? It campaigned for user-pays public transport. That is what less with less really means. What would that mean for public transport fares? It would mean that, on average, every public transport fare would go up by more than $4 and the average patron of public transport in Perth would pay $1 920 extra a year if the less with less, user-pays philosophy advocated by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition were adopted. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition should have the integrity to tell the people of Western Australia what the less with less agenda really means. The member for Vasse should not do what he did to the member for Kalgoorlie; he should tell the people of Western Australia what his real intentions are and be honest with Western Australians. I warn the people of Western Australia that the opposition has a new agenda: less with less. What does that agenda really mean? That agenda means service cuts and fare increases - an extra burden on the families of Western Australia.
That is its record, but what is its agenda? The Deputy Leader of the Opposition says that the opposition’s agenda is less with less. Cutting services appears to be its new mantra. I think that public transport subsidies would be high on the list. Why do I think that? Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr E.S. RIPPER : The problem with the member for Vasse is that he adds an integrity deficit to the coalition’s record of deficits and deficit denial. I know where the Deputy Leader of the Opposition got the phrase “less with less”. He borrowed it from Governor Weld, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts. The Governor worked hand in glove with the Pioneer Institute when he developed his less with less program. Guess what the Pioneer Institute campaigned for? It campaigned for user-pays public transport. That is what less with less really means. What would that mean for public transport fares? It would mean that, on average, every public transport fare would go up by more than $4 and the average patron of public transport in Perth would pay $1 920 extra a year if the less with less, user-pays philosophy advocated by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition were adopted. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition should have the integrity to tell the people of Western Australia what the less with less agenda really means. The member for Vasse should not do what he did to the member for Kalgoorlie; he should tell the people of Western Australia what his real intentions are and be honest with Western Australians. I warn the people of Western Australia that the opposition has a new agenda: less with less. What does that agenda really mean? That agenda means service cuts and fare increases - an extra burden on the families of Western Australia.
Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr E.S. RIPPER : The problem with the member for Vasse is that he adds an integrity deficit to the coalition’s record of deficits and deficit denial. I know where the Deputy Leader of the Opposition got the phrase “less with less”. He borrowed it from Governor Weld, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts. The Governor worked hand in glove with the Pioneer Institute when he developed his less with less program. Guess what the Pioneer Institute campaigned for? It campaigned for user-pays public transport. That is what less with less really means. What would that mean for public transport fares? It would mean that, on average, every public transport fare would go up by more than $4 and the average patron of public transport in Perth would pay $1 920 extra a year if the less with less, user-pays philosophy advocated by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition were adopted. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition should have the integrity to tell the people of Western Australia what the less with less agenda really means. The member for Vasse should not do what he did to the member for Kalgoorlie; he should tell the people of Western Australia what his real intentions are and be honest with Western Australians. I warn the people of Western Australia that the opposition has a new agenda: less with less. What does that agenda really mean? That agenda means service cuts and fare increases - an extra burden on the families of Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : I call the member for Vasse to order for the first time. Mr E.S. RIPPER : The problem with the member for Vasse is that he adds an integrity deficit to the coalition’s record of deficits and deficit denial. I know where the Deputy Leader of the Opposition got the phrase “less with less”. He borrowed it from Governor Weld, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts. The Governor worked hand in glove with the Pioneer Institute when he developed his less with less program. Guess what the Pioneer Institute campaigned for? It campaigned for user-pays public transport. That is what less with less really means. What would that mean for public transport fares? It would mean that, on average, every public transport fare would go up by more than $4 and the average patron of public transport in Perth would pay $1 920 extra a year if the less with less, user-pays philosophy advocated by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition were adopted. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition should have the integrity to tell the people of Western Australia what the less with less agenda really means. The member for Vasse should not do what he did to the member for Kalgoorlie; he should tell the people of Western Australia what his real intentions are and be honest with Western Australians. I warn the people of Western Australia that the opposition has a new agenda: less with less. What does that agenda really mean? That agenda means service cuts and fare increases - an extra burden on the families of Western Australia.
Mr E.S. RIPPER : The problem with the member for Vasse is that he adds an integrity deficit to the coalition’s record of deficits and deficit denial. I know where the Deputy Leader of the Opposition got the phrase “less with less”. He borrowed it from Governor Weld, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts. The Governor worked hand in glove with the Pioneer Institute when he developed his less with less program. Guess what the Pioneer Institute campaigned for? It campaigned for user-pays public transport. That is what less with less really means. What would that mean for public transport fares? It would mean that, on average, every public transport fare would go up by more than $4 and the average patron of public transport in Perth would pay $1 920 extra a year if the less with less, user-pays philosophy advocated by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition were adopted. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition should have the integrity to tell the people of Western Australia what the less with less agenda really means. The member for Vasse should not do what he did to the member for Kalgoorlie; he should tell the people of Western Australia what his real intentions are and be honest with Western Australians. I warn the people of Western Australia that the opposition has a new agenda: less with less. What does that agenda really mean? That agenda means service cuts and fare increases - an extra burden on the families of Western Australia.

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