RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS - Queensland Parliament ...

2340 Appropriation (Parliament) Bill; Appropriation Bill 31 Oct 2012
I note some specific budget measures with regard to the interests of my electorate. There is
$66 million for the commencement of the Moreton Bay Rail Link project, delivering on our promise. The
jobs and investment in our community that will come as this infrastructure is built will be incredibly
welcome. I also note there is $7.3 million towards construction of a third railway track between Lawnton
and Petrie, which is again planning for the future.
In relation to the provision of free travel on trains after nine trips each week, many residents in my
electorate will benefit from this cost-of-living measure. Also we are freezing family car rego. Again, many
residents in my electorate will benefit from this. I also note the department of housing has allocated
$368,000 for Home Assist Secure in Petrie. This service caters for 9,000 elderly and disabled people in
my electorate and helps them to stay in their home with regard to home maintenance. I thank the
minister for that assistance. It also reinstates the principal place of residence stamp duty exemption,
saving homebuyers real money—$7,175 in their pocket. It also increases the first home owner’s grant
on new homes from $7,000 to $15,000.
In relation to local government, I am truly proud to call the local government minister my friend. It
is finally the time when local government can stand up in this state and say, ‘We have legitimate
business to take care of,’ without being trampled on from 100 miles above them. Local government in
this state is the government closest to the people and it delivers if it is allowed to deliver, and under this
minister it will continue to deliver fantastic outcomes.
Finally, I say thank you to the committee secretariat. They continue to impress me with their
professional attitude coupled with their fantastic work ethic that ensures the work of our committee can
be done in an efficient and effective manner. Without them we would be in real trouble. I ask the House
to vote in favour of this.
Ms TRAD (South Brisbane—ALP) (11.35 pm): I rise to contribute to the Transport, Housing and
Local Government Committee estimates report. The estimates process exposed so much in relation to
the management of the transport portfolio. After all, it did reveal how competently the minister was
handling the portfolio; it did, of course, reveal his ability to handle complex data and explain it to the
people of Queensland; and it did prove that, regardless of what was going on, the minister knew exactly
where the cameras were and knew exactly which angle to point to the cameras. It also exposed that this
is a minister who used the estimates process to fudge the figures on train patronage. This is a minister
who refused to explain why the quarter 4 TransLink tracker had not been released and this is a minister
who only tabled one page of the 36-page report into the Taxi Subsidy Scheme, a report that he used to
justify the heartless and cruel cap on the Taxi Subsidy Scheme. This is a minister who continually skirted
around the truth to avoid scrutiny and accountability.
It was revealed at the estimates hearing that the transport minister had fudged transport
patronage figures in a cynical attempt to prove his discredited point that commuters are turning away
from the Queensland Rail network. If you compare TransLink’s own accurate patronage data from 2010-
11 to 2011-12, it shows that patronage increased by almost four million—not decreased by 300,000, as
the minister is falsely trying to assert. During the hearing the TransLink CEO admitted that TransLink
had more accurate data that was not used in the annual report. The minister continues to hide behind
these outdated patronage figures because he is obsessed with talking down Queensland and its
transport network.
Throughout the hearing I also asked the minister repeatedly to table, for the benefit of the
committee, the quarter 4 TransLink tracker, which had not been released. Published online every
quarter, the TransLink tracker is a snapshot of the network and gives detailed breakdowns of a range of
measures including on-time running, customer satisfaction and complaints. It is a substantial report that
is more than 20 pages long. When I asked the transport minister why the quarter 4 tracker had not been
released, the minister claimed that the information was all contained in the annual report. This is simply
not true. Even the minister knows that these excuses and denials at the hearing did not pass the truth
test, which is why he backtracked a week later and published the report. It is completely absurd that the
minister withheld publishing the public report until after estimates when he knew it would not face the
same level of scrutiny. We are yet to hear a legitimate reason why the minister sat on the report for so
long. I have since called on the minister to guarantee future TransLink trackers will be published in full
and on time. I would also ask the minister to publish the raw data used to compile the tracker on the
government’s much lauded Open Government website.
At the estimates hearing I also raised serious questions about the government’s initial budget
decision to cap the Taxi Subsidy Scheme at $400 annually for members. This decision was made
without thought, without consultation and without any consideration for its impact on the lives of people
with a disability. This is a vital program that allows thousands of Queenslanders with a disability—the
most vulnerable and marginalised people in our society—to live more independently, contribute to
Queensland’s economy and be more involved in the Queensland economy.