Question Time

INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

Ms BETTISON (Ramsay) (14:18): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier update the house about major infrastructure projects recently completed, planned and currently underway in South Australia?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:19): I thank the honourable member for her question. Infrastructure, of course, underpins not only the quality of life but the future prosperity for all South Australian citizens. That is why investments now yield benefits in the future. That is why we are so committed to infrastructure spending. We on this side of the chamber are encouraging investment and infrastructure through a range of measures.

Our planning reforms—and I want to congratulate the Deputy Premier on extraordinary breakthroughs in the planning area, and a relationship with the Adelaide City Council we haven't seen for decades. It has allowed the city to invest in stimulating not only commercial and residential housing but also other infrastructure which generate jobs now and into the future. Creating opportunities for business is also a key goal of the government and that is why high-quality infrastructure creates the circumstances for further investment by the private sector.

We continue to invest in the right infrastructure at the right time in the right places that unlocks investment and boosts this economy, transforming South Australia. This has been the story of the last 11 years and it will continue into the future. I note that we have some support from unusual quarters. The Macquarie Group's Jim Miller, a keynote speaker at the opposition leader's forum/fundraiser, does not think investment in infrastructure is a false economy. In fact, he rates it more highly than a tax cut, because he understands the multiplier effect of investing in high quality infrastructure. I would invite the opposition leader to take notice of the advice that he received.

This government's infrastructure investment brings benefits that make private investment possible. For example, yesterday we saw the opening of Australia's newest four-star hotel, the Quest on Franklin Street which is located in the recently completed $100 million mixed-use development known as 70 Franklin Street. Quest on Franklin Street features 117 brand-new studio one, two and three-bedroom serviced apartments. It is the first of two new Quest properties that will open in Adelaide over the next 12 months, with Quest King William Street due to open in March 2014.

Quest has also said that major projects, including Rundle Mall, the Adelaide Oval redevelopment and the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, are key factors in the company's decision to expand its presence here in this state. It illustrates how government investment in high-quality infrastructure spawns private sector investment in infrastructure. We have also seen a number of other major infrastructure projects open in the past several weeks, including the $385 million Rundle Place development. Rundle Place features 85 shops with over 22,000 square metres of retail space as well as an 11-storey office tower covering 30,000 square metres pre-leased to the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.

I also had the pleasure of opening the new Rowland Apartments, a $51 million 16-storey project just off Grote Street built by a team headed by developer David Lee. In a different strategy to many apartment projects, the Rowland development was fully funded from the start, with sales beginning once the company had completed the project. It was the first project to take advantage of the Deputy Premier's new planning reforms, even if it was only able to add one storey, for engineering reasons. Nevertheless it did so and it is great to see that beginning. It illustrates the way in which our new approach to planning law is unlocking this investment.

There are more privately funded projects planned or currently underway in Adelaide. The Mayfair Hotel, a $32 million redevelopment, will transform the heritage-listed Colonial Mutual Life building on the corner of King William Street into a boutique hotel, and just last week we saw the DAC approve the Tang Cheng Group's $80 million 18-storey apartment block and 14-storey hotel between Claxton and Selby Streets.

The SPEAKER: Alas, the Premier's time has expired. The leader.