Matters to be Accorded Priority
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields) [3.32 p.m.]: My motion should be accorded priority in recognition of all in our local community who rely on public transport to get to work, to see the doctor, to do their shopping or just to get around. Public transport is a vital necessity. One of the most important aspects of an effective public transport system is affordability. How is it affordable when hardworking people in our local community are slugged with a 48 per cent increase, or about $960? Well, it is not. To those on the Government benches $960 might not mean a lot, but it is a massive increase for people in my electorate, and no doubt every other electorate across the Sydney metropolitan area. Those opposite might want to stick up for the people in their local community instead of obfuscating and hiding behind spin and a publicly funded marketing exercise. Anything less than support for this motion will mean that members opposite are putting the people in their communities last. A 48 per cent increase is not affordable, it is not fair and it shows a lack of understanding of the budgets of hardworking people.
Mr Adrian Piccoli: Ask me about Hurlstone.
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG: You will get your turn, Minister. We are trying to encourage more people to use public transport but what is the Government's genius solution? It is a 48 per cent increase in cost, a massive increase that will get more people on the roads and stuck in traffic and cost our economy even more. "Let's increase the prices by up to $960; then we can expect more people to use public transport." I am not sure what economic philosophy this plan is from. However, this skyrocketing price increase will have an even more immediate impact on people's pay packets, especially considering the hours they work to earn at times quite moderate wages. Let us consider some facts—something that this Liberal Government is good at hiding and great at stretching and using selectively. The Reserve Bank of Australia's 2015 publication on wages growth states:
Wage growth has declined markedly in Australia over the past few years. … The size of the decline in wage growth has been larger than simple historical relationships.
The rate of wage growth is barely 2 per cent. Inflation is at 2 per cent. That is in fact a zero real wage increase. But what is the Government's solution? It is a 48 per cent increase in the cost of using public transport. That is a multiple of greater than 20. This also shows a lack of understanding, a lack of care and a lack of compassion for those who work so hard. The Government can spin it whichever way it wants; it can use figures for six weeks or six months. All I know is that a 48 per cent cost increase is not fair with a zero per cent wage increase.
