Ms GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN: My question is directed to the Premier. Why is the Premier willing to spend $1 billion to renovate the Sydney Opera House while the people of the south-west have had their rail link cancelled, forcing them to continue to suffer in traffic queues on the M5?

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Bathurst to order. Government members will come to order.

Mr NATHAN REES: Notwithstanding the clarity of my previous answer on this issue, the answer is that the Government is not spending $1 billion on the Sydney Opera House, as the member for Willoughby asserts.

[Interruption]

The issue is public transport, and our record on this issue is very clear. Hundreds of new buses are coming online.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Willoughby to order.

Mr NATHAN REES: More than 700 new train carriages are on order, the CBD Metro is ticked off for $4.8 billion and—

Ms Gladys Berejiklian: Point of order: I refer to Standing Order 129. The question is specifically about the south-west rail link and the Premier is failing to answer that question.

The SPEAKER: Order! I will listen further to the Premier.

Mr NATHAN REES: As we have said previously, the South West Rail Link will be delivered in two stages, and the staging will be influenced by the development of land in the south-west growth centre. Stage one is an investment of $856 million and involves a major upgrade to Glenfield station and a transport interchange. Also included is a new multi-level car park with approximately 700 new spaces, new train stabling facilities at Auburn and power supply upgrades. Other key work in stage one will be the construction of the North Junction flyover and the Glenfield Junction works. Those works will allow for the complementary construction of the southern Sydney freight line.

I am advised that the Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation has already appointed a consortium of construction and design firms for the Glenfield Junction Alliance to deliver the Glenfield transport interchange works, including the station upgrade. The Glenfield Transport Interchange Review of Environmental Factors went on public exhibition for comment at the end of February for a period of four weeks. Site investigation works are already underway at Glenfield and, following planning approval, construction of the Glenfield transport interchange will commence this year. But that is not all. On-time running for our train system more broadly is at 95.3 per cent. That compares with 88 per cent in 2005-06.

The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order.

Mr NATHAN REES: Rail patronage for 2008 was 305 million passenger journeys, which is a 5.7 per cent increase over 2007. That is 315,000 extra passenger journeys each week. For buses, there were 191 million trips in 2007-08—an increase of four million over the previous year. Newcastle bus and ferry services also had 12.5 million trips for 2007-08—an increase of 51,000 trips over the previous 12 months. Across the metropolitan private bus network there was an increase in patronage of 9 per cent, and for Sydney Ferries patronage was up 400,000 to a total of 7.2 million. On top of that, we are investing in public transport growth. As I said, there are more than 600 new rail carriages under the public-private partnership; 122 outer suburban carriages, with more to come; 1,400 rail carriages; the recently opened Epping to Chatswood rail line; and the Rail Clearways Program.

The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order.

Mr NATHAN REES: All the feedback from passengers on that line is that it is very good.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kogarah to order.

Mr NATHAN REES: Also, there is $56 million for more commuter car parking spaces—

[Interruption]

We will get to rail lines—we will discuss the airport line if you like, Barry. It happened on your watch.

The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order. The Premier has the call.

Mr NATHAN REES: Our record on public transport is well established.

The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order.

Mr NATHAN REES: It is prudent spending, responsible spending, and it is leading to an increase in patronage—

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Willoughby to order for the second time.

Mr NATHAN REES: —on our rail system, an increase in patronage on our buses, an increase in patronage on our ferries, and an easing of congestion on key road routes. That is a public transport policy; that is what public transport is about. In contrast, the Opposition has a public transport policy that has not articulated a single new bus, not articulated a single new train carriage, and not articulated a single new road. Instead, there are more bureaucrats. It is a non-policy.