|
Mr MIKE BAIRD (Manly) [5.45 p.m.]: I voice the Manly community's complete disbelief that the State Government plans to axe a form of public transport relied on by thousands of commuters without providing any alternative whatsoever. Last week the Premier and the Minister for Transport delighted in sharing with the House—almost laughed and joked about it—that the JetCats were costly and unreliable. Clearly they were pointing to the mini-budget and saying it is time they were scrapped. The New South Wales Labor Government has run Manly's fast ferry service for 13 years, and one would think at this point it would assume some responsibility for ensuring it is cost-efficient and reliable.
We found out today that a fast ferry service is viable. The Palm Beach operators have demonstrated this. The idea was to contact all 12 ferry companies in the international domain, but we found someone next door. The Palm Beach operators have done the figures and believe they can run a cheaper, more reliable, more environmentally friendly and more frequent fast ferry service for the people of Manly. Riverside Marine is one of Australia's largest maritime companies and has been the operator of the Palm Beach ferry service for the past 25 years. It has written to the Director General of the Ministry of Transport with this fast ferry proposal. Matthew Lloyd, the general manager, said in the letter:
As I have explained in previous correspondence I believe I could provide a 100% reliable jet Cat style service for a fraction of the expense it is currently operated at by Sydney Ferries. The service I would provide will have a greater capacity than the existing service, operate to a more frequent timetable, be more environmentally friendly and cost the NSW tax payer approximately 40% less to run if anything at all. I could provide you with a service that operates to a profit for the same fare prices that is currently being charged.
I received an email from a Tim Buckler, who has further ideas on how the State Government should look at the ferry service. He said he has benchmarked Sydney Ferries against an equivalent New York ferry operation. He has been able to show that if we replicated New York Waterways operations in Sydney, Sydney Ferries would need only about 280 employees, rather than the current 732 employees, a labour saving of around $30 million a year. He has provided this information in a letter to the Premier. So, not only is the Government quick to abandon Manly commuters with its plans to axe the JetCats, it is not even considering all these ideas coming to it on how to improve the service.
I have received a huge number of responses from local commuters as the news surfaced that there is a sinister plot to cancel the JetCats in the mini-budget. Bear in mind that Manly makes up 49 per cent of the use of Sydney ferries. This is what some of those commuters had to say.
Andy Holliday writes:
The state's focus should be on improving transport rather than cutting what limited services Sydney has to offer.
Andrew Simpson said:
I thought the Government's job was to improve public transport not make it worse.
There are environmental concerns. Mark Houston had this to say:
It is disheartening that a government of any political persuasion in these dire climatic/environmentally challenging times would be contemplating any proposal that will have the effect of reducing usage of public transport services.
Rebecca and Michael Isaacs wrote:
With the ongoing problem of climate change, not to mention the traffic congestion problems along Spit and Military Roads, the State Government should be supporting and expanding public transport services, not cutting them.
There is an impact on families. Sheldon Rivers pointed out:
My family and I are long time Manly residents and users of the Manly Jetcat service. Both myself and my wife work full time and have 2 young daughters both of whom go to a local child care centre. We are extremely reliant on a fast and reliable service from the city to Manly to enable us to pick up our children before the deadlines imposed by the child care centre. The Manly Jetcat provides this service.
Last week the Premier said, "We have made it very clear that public transport and easing congestion are front and centre of my government," yet the next day he looked like he would cap and cancel this service. He also said there were five people on the JetCat when he caught one, but he caught it in the middle of the day. I invite the Premier to talk to any one of the hundreds of commuters who have written to me. If he visits Manly Wharf during any peak period—for instance, at 7.20 a.m.—he will see the queues of commuters stretching from one end of the wharf to the other. Hundreds and hundreds of people miss out on catching the JetCat every day that the service is provided.
I have saved the best for last. Zach Bell, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary of the Northern Beaches Young Labor Association, stated:
The JetCat service is plainly a commuter service, and the Northern Beaches already has substandard commuter transport. The Spit Bridge is clearly inadequate for a major road and subsequently the city bus services take more than one hour and forty five minutes. If the state government scraps the JetCat what alternatives is the State Government going to offer? Please note that additional bus services and ferry services are not a fair solution to the problems listed above. Frankly Manly has a growing population with an ever decreasing infrastructure budget. More to this point the fact that your ministry is planning to retain the more expensive RiverCat to the Western Suburbs, tends to suggest that the decommission of the Manly JetCat is a politically focussed attack on Liberal voting Manly residents. As a fellow Labor member and election campaigner I think this conduct is unacceptable.
It demonstrates that this issue is of importance to the entire Manly community, not just one side of the political fence. [Time expired.]
|
