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Questions On Notice Questions on notice are usually asked when a more detailed answer is required and are in writing, and are forwarded by the Clerk of the Parliament to the relevant Minister who prepares a written answer which is presented to Parliament.
Question:
Mr LAWLOR:
My question is to the Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations. Could the minister provide details to the House on the reaction to his announcement last Friday on light rail for the Gold Coast?
Answer:
Mr MICKEL:
When it comes to public transport on the Gold Coast the opposition will say and do anything to cling to opposition. Those opposite have always been ambivalent when it comes to public transport on the Gold Coast. In the sixties they tore up the railway line and sold off the corridor-one that we have had to put back down. Earlier this year the member for Robina said that people prefer to drive to Skilled Park. Last time I checked 85 per cent of people who go to Skilled Park go there by public transport. Those opposite have
never had any faith at all in public transport.
Last Friday we had the first statement from the shadow minister for transport. She said the LNP- that is the mob with the 11 herbs and spices-supports the idea of a PPP for the most appropriate rapid transport system because it believes the infrastructure needs to be built as soon as possible. That is from the shadow minister for transport. But what did the member for Robina say. He said that no private sector firm would be interested in bidding. So they are going to have a PPP without the private sector, according to the member for Robina. T
he point is that the party of private enterprise has given up on the
private sector when it comes to the member for Robina. But the doozy belongs to the shadow transport spokesperson. She said, 'The government should be calling for tenders today instead of making an announcement about an announcement.' In other words, what we should have been doing last Friday is calling fortenders for a mode of transport that the business sector knew nothing about and for a route that the business sector knew nothing about. This is
their approach to PPPs. They know nothing about them.
The opposition then went on to say that what we should have been doing is announcing immediately the business case. In other words, what those opposite are saying is that we should have released the commercial-in-confidence business case. We did not do that because the private sector would have taken one look at the target amount and rather than competed to deliver the best value for the money bid it would have delivered a tender that was just under the amount that the opposition would have us release.
For heaven's sake, those opposite might think they were born to rule but I tell them this: they are elected to opposition! Given the statements that came out last week and that have come out continuously about transport on the Gold Coast, it is apparent that the opposition has not changed from the sins of the sixties. It is riveted to the sixties and the idea of pulling up infrastructure and selling off the corridor.
Time expired. Last changed: [PUBLISHED_DATE] at 9:27 AM
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