SOUTHERN EXPRESSWAY

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (14:06): Can the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure update the house on the progress of the Southern Expressway and how announcements by the federal opposition interact with this?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:06): I would like to thank the member for Mitchell for his question and his keen interest in the southern suburbs. Today, I was down at the toll-free Southern Expressway inspecting the first series of asphalt being laid under the new carriageway. It is great news for motorists looking forward to the project's completion and for residents living along the corridor.

Reaching the stage of laying the asphalt means we have moved nearly 1.55 million cubic metres of earth, which equates to about 90 per cent of the total excavation. Around 210,000 tonnes of asphalt will be laid over the next 12 months to complete pavements on the 18½-kilometre expressway duplication. Three of the nine bridges have now been extended to span the expressway, with two more set to reopen in the coming months. All pedestrian bridges will also be reopening soon.

I want to thank all the local businesses and residents along the route of the duplication project who have experienced inconvenience during the excavation works. It has been very difficult for them, and I thank them for their patience. We want to do this project as efficiently as possible, but unfortunately a lack of foresight and poor decisions made by members opposite have created delays.

None of the bridges were built with the capacity to allow for a duplicated Southern Expressway below. This means that every single bridge is being deconstructed and rebuilt to accommodate an extended carriageway. The government is committed to not allowing ad hoc infrastructure decisions to dictate how we build infrastructure for South Australians. Unfortunately, the federal opposition, and coincidentally members opposite, feel differently.

An announcement made by Mr Abbott on Saturday provides a Darlington upgrade that could short-change the people of South Australia and the south. The government will be very cautious about committing to a project that fails to link in rail and public transport needs for the area. Estimates by the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure show the completed project would cost $1.8 billion. This means the federal commitment leaves a shortfall of $1.3 billion.

What concerns the government is that either the state government will have to fund the shortfall or members opposite are planning to introduce tolls to cover that cost. Considering members opposite have not agreed to fund its share of that project, one has to assume that they will be introducing tolls by stealth.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: A point of order from the member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: The minister is clearly debating the answer to this question; he is making assumptions and he is using hypotheticals to make an argument.

The SPEAKER: Well, I ruled yesterday that government ministers, in answering questions, were not responsible to the house for the state opposition's projected or assumed policies, and I stand by that ruling. I also ruled, though, that if the alternative government at federal level made proposals that would have implications for the administration of the state, it was in order for government ministers to comment on those policy announcements or to supply information about those announcements. So, I would say to the Minister for Transport he would be out of order if he predicted what Her Majesty's state opposition is going to do or not going to do, but he would be in order if he gave us information about the announcements by the alternative federal government.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I won't attempt to predict what the loyal opposition will do, because they don't know what they're going to do, because they have no policies.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: What was that? I just did?

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sorry. Anyway, this government rules out introduction of toll roads. I note with interest members opposite refuse to.