SOUTHERN EXPRESSWAY

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (12:43): I move:

That this house welcomes the announced duplication of the Southern Expressway and urges the state government to improve access and egress for residents of Reynella, Happy Valley, Woodcroft and surrounding areas, as well as the evaluation of light rail, O-Bahn bus lanes and other bus options, including trolley buses.

As the motion indicates, this is a positive recognition of the recently announced duplication of the Southern Expressway. We all know why it was not done initially—there was not enough money. It is a pity that was the case because, as I understand it (and, for part of that time, I would have been in cabinet), the cost then would have been 30 per cent more to duplicate it. Now it would be well over double the cost because, as I understand it, all the bridges have to be removed and replaced.

Simply, what I am seeking with this motion (and I have already written to the minister and I am sure he will take on board these suggestions) is to highlight that, whilst the access for travelling north exists on the expressway as people come in near Happy Valley, the access for people wanting to travel south, and points such as that, does not readily exist. All I suggest is we need some lateral innovative thinking in relation to the duplication and, where possible, allow, for example, high speed buses or light rail, or whatever can be put down there. Those high speed transport options will be able to come off at points that can serve that wider southern area, there could be potential linkages with the rail line to the west and, hopefully, even a light rail option which could serve areas such as Woodcroft, Reynella East and so on.

As we have seen in Western Australia, when they have built freeways in recent times they have put a railway down the centre. I am not saying that needs to happen here. It would be great if it could, but I think the planning—and I know it is at a concept stage now—needs to go beyond just simply duplicating the road. I would urge the government to think outside the square, literally, in terms of looking at the options. You do not have to replicate the O-Bahn in terms of concrete infrastructure and so on; you can have dedicated bus lanes that are simply on bitumen.

What we need is to look at all the options and ensure that this time, with added resources, the infrastructure that is created is appropriate and will serve the community for many years to come, including when, possibly, the price of oil starts to hurt the people who live in the southern region. So, I am urging the government to look at a whole range of options and particularly to ensure that people can access the Southern Expressway if they are heading south, as well as those who wish to head north. I refer, in particular, to the people who live in the Happy Valley, Reynella East area. I commend the motion to the house.

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (12:47): I move to amend the motion as follows:

Delete the words 'urges the state government to improve' and replace with 'the improved'; and

Delete the words 'as well as the evaluation of light rail, O-Bahn bus lanes and other bus options, including trolley buses' and replace with, 'and also notes the massive investment the state government is making to improve public transport services in the south.'

In February of this year, the state government announced the duplication of the Southern Expressway and the building of a new interchange at Darlington. Almost 15 years after the Liberals delivered a half-hearted effort that has drawn ridicule ever since and made us a national laughing stock, the Rann Labor government has moved decisively to address the issue the way it should have been done in the first place.

The Liberals did not properly plan or fund the project, and it is estimated that the duplication will now cost us $445 million. The difference, however, is that, unlike the Liberals, the Rann Labor government will deliver a Southern Expressway that will not only meet the needs of South Australians today but well into the future. The Rann Labor government's duplication of the Southern Expressway is being driven not by short-term expediency but by long-term vision, underpinned by solid planning.

The planning is being done as we have the scoping studies to work out the best way to have on-ramps and off-ramps and other parts of the infrastructure built, because it is very complicated to undo the dog's breakfast that was put there in the first place by the Liberal government. We have traffic merging into fast flowing traffic from the wrong side of the road, just as one example.

We need to look at the Panalatinga entrance and exits at Woodcroft, which is going to be a very big job. I was out there the other day with three members of the Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure and a local constituent who was concerned about pedestrian movements to and from the park-and-ride car park at the top of Panalatinga Road over to the bus stop. It is a very dangerous intersection where people have to cross many lanes to get to the bus stop, and then back again in the evening. It is going to be a very big job just to get the scoping and the planning right in this study.

We are increasing bus services in the south to Old Reynella, Reynella, Woodcroft, Willunga and Sellicks. The buses that use the expressway have a fairly free-flowing movement. The traffic moves along at 100 km/h for most of the distance along the expressway and I see that as continuing, so I am not sure that it is necessary to run an O-Bahn or light rail alongside that corridor when you already have fairly fast-flowing movement.

Those sorts of light rail and O-Bahn developments actually work better where you do not have something like the Southern Expressway and they are much more needed there. That is something that we are looking to do in the long-term planning around Darlington as we try to devise a transport solution for that area, which is one of the busiest parts of South Australia. All the traffic comes together from the expressway—South Road, Flagstaff Road—and then you have Sturt Road coming on to it. It all funnels in together and then it goes out again into Ayliffes Road and South Road. It is a real bottleneck at the moment.

We are looking at not only improving the traffic flow for cars but also the possibility of extending the Tonsley line to the Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre precinct. That would be a huge boon. Of course, you would then provide park-and-ride facilities so that people from Woodcroft, Happy Valley and those suburbs could drive down the hill on the expressway, park at the park-and-ride, get on a train and be quickly into town without all the bottlenecks that we usually face every morning and evening along Goodwood Road and South Road.

In March this year, the government finalised the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide after extensive public consultation and has delivered a document that will inform the way Greater Adelaide is shaped over the next three decades. The plan envisages a southern Adelaide with 6,075 net additional dwellings and 43,000 net additional jobs, highlighting the necessity of duplicating the Southern Expressway to support this growth.

There will be duplication of approximately 18.5 kilometres of expressway, including the duplication of the existing road and footbridges. Again, it just shows the shortsightedness of the Liberals not to blast out the rock face wide enough to allow for the duplication one day or to erect bridges that were wide enough so that you could simply run the extra lanes that we will be adding to the Southern Expressway under those bridges.

As it stands, we are going to have to replace all but one of the bridges along the expressway which is a great waste of time and money. It is like anything: if you are building a house, you get the foundations right and the rest will be better in the long run. In this case, the Liberal government showed a great lack of foresight. As I said, we will get on and we will finish the job properly.

It is going to be a great project in delivering jobs for the south. This morning we had our latest meeting of the Southern Expressway task force, which I chair, to ensure that we have all the stakeholders in the local area and at government level talking about how we can ensure that 50 per cent of all the jobs that will come through the duplication of the Southern Expressway go to people in the southern suburbs.

This is going to be a huge project, as is the extension of the Noarlunga line to Seaford. It will create jobs in the short term but it will provide alternatives for people in the long term. Whether they live at Victor Harbor or McLaren Vale, Willunga or Aldinga, people will be able to drive to the park-and-rides at Seaford, get on the train and, within 35 or 40 minutes on an express train, be in the centre of the city; or, in fact, just catch the train to Noarlunga Centre or Brighton to visit the good seat of Bright and some of the cafes and restaurants near the jetty which, Madam Deputy Speaker, I know you frequent and promote all the time.

We have made huge investments in public transport and infrastructure, and that has been continued just the week before last with the delivery of the state budget—a budget committed to delivering for people in the south. We are also spending money on an overpass at the corner of Main Road, McLaren Vale, and Victor Harbor Road. It is important that we make these sort of funding commitments to help people to not only get to and from where they have to go a lot quicker but also to make the roads a lot safer.

Part of the member for Fisher's motion calls for the evaluation of light rail, O‑Bahn bus lanes and other bus options, including trolleybuses. An amount of $2 billion is being invested over 10 years to deliver initiatives to transform Adelaide's network into a vibrant state-of-the-art system, providing faster, more frequent and efficient services for train, tram and bus commuters. This unprecedented investment in public transport underpins and confirms this state government's determination to provide a cleaner, more sustainable public transport system that makes Adelaide one of the best cities in Australia to live, work and do business.

In the 2009-10 federal budget, the federal Labor government announced a $646 million investment in the building of South Australia's road and rail infrastructure, which will build on a massive $2 billion over 10 years already committed by the Rann Labor government. I was very happy to see the Gillard government returned, because I think this government has forged great relationships with our counterparts in Canberra, making sure that South Australia gets more than its fair share of funding. We are seeing money coming out of Canberra for projects that have never before been paid for by federal governments.

I want to pay tribute to our Minister for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure for the work he has done in consulting with his colleagues in Canberra. He really has leveraged a lot of money out of Canberra, the likes of which we have never seen before, and we are building the infrastructure for South Australia to enjoy, not only now but well into the future. It is a pity that, when the Liberals were in government, they did not have the same sort of vision and capacity to put together a proper plan and proper infrastructure.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (12:57): Madam Deputy Speaker, we have just heard 15 minutes of gobbledygook from the member for Mawson.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I would actually like to correct you there. Just for the record, I think it was 10 minutes.

Mr GRIFFITHS: Well, it was a long time, anyway. I was certainly sick of it after about three minutes.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Personal reflections on members are not allowed. Surely the former deputy leader might have some honour and actually talk about the motion rather than the person.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I assume, minister, that you are referring to standing order 127.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, ma'am.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think that would be a reflection on the member, but you were really talking about what he was saying and not him as a person, were you not?

Mr GRIFFITHS: I was, Madam Deputy Speaker; true.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I do not uphold the point of order, but I understand the point the minister is trying to make. Let us not leave him to the gutter with our rage, let us be statesmanlike.

Mr GRIFFITHS: If the minister and the member for Mawson are offended by the use of the word 'gobbledygook,' they are a lot softer than I thought.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am sure that they will live to fight another day.

Mr BIGNELL: Can I just point out that I take no offence at all at the member for Goyder's comments.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is lovely. Okay, so everybody is happy. It is kumbaya, it is love in the room, it is a new paradigm in politics. Member for Goyder.

Mr GRIFFITHS: It is interesting that this is the second time today that I have heard the word 'kumbaya,' so I congratulate you on that.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Have you been talking to Christopher Pyne?

Mr GRIFFITHS: No, I have not. It is interesting how history has changed. I respect the fact that the member for Mawson, as parliamentary secretary to the minister, is heavily involved in the Southern Expressway duplication. I know that it services his community and I know he is passionate about it, but he has reinvented history to some level by just reflecting upon supposedly poor decisions by the Liberal Party when in government from 1993 to 2002. Surely he also has to reflect upon the financial position of this state at the time and the desperate situation that we found ourselves in. Hard decisions had to be made, but investment in infrastructure still had to occur, and the best that could be done was done at the time with the available funds.

It is appropriate now that governments of all persuasions invest in infrastructure. It is the key to the growth of our economy; there is no doubt about that. That is why both sides are committed to this project: because they see merit in it. I seek leave to conclude my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

[Sitting suspended from 13:00 to 14:00]