Sydney Road tram stops
Tim READ (Brunswick) (14:20): My question is for the Minister for Public Transport. On the weekend nearly 200 people walked and rolled up Sydney Road to protest the lack of accessible tram stops on a 5-kilometre strip up Sydney Road.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier will come to order. The member for Brunswick to continue, in silence.
Tim READ: It is hard enough for them now, but it will get more difficult when the nearby Upfield line is closed for level crossing removal works, leaving wheelchair-using people severely limited in their mobility. Now, about three-quarters of Melbourne’s tram stops are not accessible and there is no money in the budget to replace accessible tram stops, so my question to the minister is: when will my constituents with a disability be able to catch a tram on Sydney Road?
Vicki Ward interjected.
The SPEAKER: The member for Eltham can leave the chamber for 1 hour.
Member for Eltham withdrew from chamber.
Ben CARROLL (Niddrie – Minister for Industry and Innovation, Minister for Manufacturing Sovereignty, Minister for Employment, Minister for Public Transport) (14:22): I thank the member for Brunswick for his question, which is an important question on making sure people of all abilities have access to a world-class public transport system. The member would appreciate that Melbourne, Victoria, has the largest tram network in the world. There are always two parts to the equation when it comes to accessibility. There is a rolling stock component, which we are getting on with the job – a $1.85 billion investment to get rid of 100 high-floor trams to make them 100 low-floor trams. That is one part of it. But then you have to also work with local government, and sometimes Greens councils too, to remove dangerous and non-compliant tram stops at the local level. But guess how many this government has done?
Jacinta Allan: How many?
Ben CARROLL: 48. We are heading towards 50. That is a major legacy for this government when it comes to supporting people, ensuring that we have more accessible trams and more accessible tram stops. I meet with the sector regularly, and it is a key component to making sure – and I said this on the weekend – that we give every person with mobility issues, whether it be hearing or whether it be disability, access. We have a great track record of working with this community when it comes to rolling stock. We also have a very important track record when it comes to working with this community in making sure, whether it is a bus, a tram or a train, that they have every opportunity to be like every other member of this community: independent, mobile and having access to get to school, jobs and TAFE.
I will continue to work with Sydney Road and continue to work with the local member. As I said, only today I met with a member of the disability sector, and he came in with his guide dog. I will continue to meet with the sector. I know how important it is. As the public transport minister I have said this on many occasions and publicly: I do not want people with disabilities just to have access to multipurpose taxis, I want them to have the freedom and the mobility and the equity that comes from being a full member of our society and having every opportunity to be on the public transport network.
Tim READ (Brunswick) (14:24): I thank the minister for his work on rolling stock. Nevertheless, with the low-floor trams you still cannot get on them with a wheelchair unless the tram stop is elevated, and so that work needs to be done. So my supplementary question is: with the gradually diminishing funding in the budget for tram stop replacements and now none in this budget, does that mean that the tram stop replacement has come to an end?
Ben CARROLL (Niddrie – Minister for Industry and Innovation, Minister for Manufacturing Sovereignty, Minister for Employment, Minister for Public Transport) (14:25): We are continuing to invest in our public transport network. In fact one of the important parts of our next-generation tram project – and I happened to be out recently with the member for Footscray looking at the Maidstone facility – is it is very cutting-edge technology we are looking at where when the tram comes to its stop, the floor will actually come out and meet the stop. That will be a major improvement and a new technology that we are going to trial. We are talking to the disability sector on this. As I said, when it does come to accessibility – and you can read the Auditor-General’s report on this – there are two parts to the equation. There is the at-surface, hard-surface component and then there is the rolling stock component. It has been this government, the Andrews Labor government, that has put record funding into doing everything across removing dangerous congested level crossings, making sure our tram stops are as accessible as they need to be and in combination with that putting low-floor trams on the network and retiring high-floor trams – (Time expired)