ACT chief minister concedes government should have postponed MyWay+ rollout by at least a week
In short:
Chief Minister Andrew Barr has conceded the ACT government should have postponed launching the new public transport ticketing system, which experienced teething problems.
The issue of the MyWay+ rollout dominated the new legislative assembly's first sitting week, with all members voting to refer the matter to an assembly committee for an inquiry.
What's next?
The ACT Legislative Assembly will reconvene in February.
The ACT chief minister has conceded the government should have waited several more days before rolling out the MyWay+ ticketing system for public transport.
The new system went live last Wednesday but was soon plagued by a range of problems.
The introduction of live travel data has also been delayed.
Transport Canberra says many of the issues have since been resolved.
But the issue has dominated the first sitting week of the new Legislative Assembly, with all members voting to refer the matter to an assembly committee for an inquiry.
The MyWay+ ticketing system experienced teething problems when it launched last week. (Facebook: Transport Canberra)
In an interview with Stateline ACT to mark the first sitting, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the rollout had fallen short of expectations.
"In hindsight, it would clearly have benefited from several more days of testing," he said.
"Any new system will take a little while to get used to.
"But clearly from what has happened in the last seven days, it could have benefited from another at least seven days of testing."
Earlier this week, Transport Minister Chris Steel told the assembly he was advised weeks before the launch Transport Canberra had "a high degree of confidence" in the new system.
The legislative assembly heard Transport Canberra had "a high degree of confidence" in the MyWay+ system weeks before the problematic launch. (Facebook: Transport Canberra)
During the transition period between the former MyWay system and MyWay+, the government made public transport free of charge.
The period coincided with the election campaign, and the assembly inquiry is set to examine the timing of the transition.
The chief minister insisted the timing was not political.
"It was a decision of the cabinet on the advice of the agency and the minister, driven by the need to have a period to install the new system," he said.
"[It also aligned with] the end of the 3G network that the old system used to communicate."
'I don't want to see blocking for the sake of blocking': chief minister
Prior to the motion for the inquiry coming to the assembly, the ACT Greens indicated they would support the push.
Mr Barr said he was not surprised, after the Greens chose not to return to a power-sharing arrangement with Labor after the last election, and instead moved to the crossbench.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr says he doesn't want to see members of the new legislative assembly stopping things "for purely political reasons". (ABC News: Simon Beardsell)
"[It] probably means they've put themselves in a position of less responsibility for outcomes," Mr Barr said.
"They can seek to be critics a little bit more than when you are actually having to do things."
Pointing to the amount of legislation that attracts support from both major parties, Mr Barr said he was open to negotiating with the Canberra Liberals on more contentious issues.
"We will look to find any possible avenue if there is a tricky issue to get a majority of the assembly to support our position," he said.
"What I don't want to see in this assembly is blocking for the sake of blocking, and stopping things happening just for purely political reasons."
Mr Barr said that was less of a risk "than it is in the federal Senate" — an apparent reference to the federal Greens, which Labor has at times criticised as obstructionist on key legislation such as some of its housing bills.
The legislative assembly will reconvene in February.