2015-06-25
Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) — We are about to start an approximately five-week break between parliamentary sittings, and I am going to be using that opportunity to go on a study tour. I am sure that a number of another members around this place will be doing the same. Politicians do not arrive here knowing everything about everything, and so it is appropriate for us to visit other jurisdictions to learn about both the best and the worst in the way they have been implementing their policies.
Do members know that Los Angeles has a plan to build a bigger tram system than Melbourne's? I have read about it, but I want to see it for myself and ask for some answers that are perhaps not immediately obvious from reading about it on the internet. Likewise, New York has a plan called Vision Zero — that is, zero pedestrian or bicycle fatalities in traffic crashes. I will be talking to some of the people who are involved in that program.
As Gorbachev said to Reagan, 'It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times'. Members will all be hearing about it when I return; in fact I will be tweeting as I go. I also look forward to hearing reports from other members who travel over the winter break about what they learn and can bring back for our wisdom and edification.