Fuel Prices - Incentives for Public Transport Use

[11.00 a.m.]

The pain people are experiencing with the cost of fuel is worsening by the day, and your government is appearing very flat-footed on addressing this. Since your general announcement last week about fuel security, the International Energy Agency has done the policy work for you, setting out 10 clear steps to reduce fuel demand, and the Leader of the Opposition touched on one of those. Number 3 is to encourage people to use public transport, which is something your government hasn't been successful at doing up to this point. This energy crisis offers your government the perfect opportunity to act. What new initiatives is your government considering to increase the uptake of public transport in the midst of this fuel crisis?

ANSWER

Honourable Speaker, I thank the honourable member for her question. We fully appreciate the value of public transport in Tasmania. We've continued our half-price fares on public transport through until 30 June this year, which is a key cost-of-living measure for Tasmanians, but also an opportunity for Tasmanians to have a modal shift - if that's the right terminology - from car to public transport, in this case buses or indeed ferries across the Derwent. It applies to every fare type - non-urban adult, urban adult, adult concession and child student fares - and is an example of a government that is applying resources effectively by having half-price bus fares to support Tasmanian families and making public transport more affordable.

For students travelling on public buses, fare-paying school buses and ferries, the single ticket cash student fare has been reduced from $2 to $1, and for adult concession fare travel across urban areas or up to three-month non-urban zones, the single ticket cash fare has been reduced from $2.40 to $1.20, again trying to not only support Tasmanians with the cost of living, but also that modal shift to public transport as well, which reduces congestion on our roads and reduces car use and fuel consumption as well.

I thank you for the question. We are doing our bit when it comes to half-price fares, which I know has been welcomed by many Tasmanians.

Supplementary Question

Ms BURNET - You talked about a modal shift; the question was about what initiatives you are putting in place now in direct response to the fuel crisis and also to increase that modal shift. We only have 4 per cent of people catching public transport to commute. What are you doing about that now as a response to the fuel crisis?

Mr ROCKLIFF - I think the honourable member for the supplementary question. I take it still in the context of public transport and I believe I've answered that. When it comes to the very high prices people are experiencing at the bowser at the moment, if it's possible to access public transport to alleviate that pressure on the family budget, I don't need to encourage Tasmanian families to do that because it would be self-evident to them as they're watching every single dollar, as they would need to do, because as Mr Pearce has highlighted, when it comes to not just fuel but the cost of fertiliser and urea, it's gone up some 35 per cent to 40 per cent, as I understand it. That's a significant input cost and -

Ms Burnet - It doesn't help people catching public transport.

The SPEAKER - Order.

Mr ROCKLIFF - The flow-on effects of that affect the family budget in terms of food ‑

The SPEAKER - The honourable Premier's time has expired.