Community to be thanked for forcing Government’s late night train backflip

Greens WA Transport Spokesperson Lynn MacLaren MLC has welcomed the Government’s backflip on a decision to cancel Perth’s late night train service but it says it calls into question how the Government is making decisions.

“Good governance is fundamentally about good decision-making and that doesn’t happen when decisions are made unilaterally, without consultation and on false information,” Ms MacLaren said.

“The Greens congratulate the community for forcing the Government’s hand and making it reconsider its decision and the evidence on which it was based.

“The Western Australian public have had to do the same before, such as with solar panels and shark culling, and they will do it again each time the Government ignores common sense and facts.

“Perth risked joining Canberra, Hobart and Darwin as the only three Australian capitals without any after-midnight public transport and that was simply not good enough for a city of this size.

“The costs to emergency departments of treating alcohol-related injury are highest between the hours of midnight and 5am: a simple cost-benefit analysis of this and crime-related costs was one of the key considerations that was overlooked.”